Samsung and Seagate to jointly improve SSDs, give each other noogies behind the barn
Seagate and Samsung -- not exactly rivals in every facet, but certainly not buddy-buddy in the storage realm. These two have been attempting to one-up each other for as long as platters have been stacked within 3.5-inch HDD enclosures (and before, probably), but they're putting their differences aside today and announcing a tag-team arrangement meant to jointly develop controller technology for enterprise SSDs. Under the newfangled agreement, the two mega-corps will work hand-in-hand and cross-license related controller technologies for solid state drive devices, with a goal to increase reliability and endurance for use in business environments. Curiously enough, the companies didn't hand out any press imagery nor any specific details about what future devices would be emerging from the partnership; and yeah, we're also wondering which logo is going to end up splashed across the packaging. While this may all seem distanced from you and your laptop at the moment, it's surely just a matter of time before enterprise demands become consumer demands. Right, fellas?
Show full PR text
Seagate And Samsung Announce Agreement To Jointly Develop Controller Technology For Enterprise SSDs
SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. - August 12, 2010 - Seagate Technology plc (NASDAQ: STX), the world leader in hard disk drives and storage solutions, and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that they have entered into a joint development and licensing agreement.
Under the agreement, the two companies will jointly develop and cross-license related controller technologies for solid state drive ("SSD") storage devices to attain the high levels of performance, reliability and endurance demanded by enterprise storage applications.
The joint development effort builds on the existing SSD capabilities of each company while combining Seagate's leadership in enterprise storage technology with Samsung's flash memory technology specific to 30 nanometer-class MLC NAND. The jointly developed controller will be utilized in Seagate's enterprise-class SSDs.
"Seagate has long recognized that solid state technology has an important role to play in the comprehensive solutions the storage industry will deliver today and in the future, particularly in the enterprise market," said Steve Luczo, Seagate chairman, president and CEO. "Today's agreement with Samsung will help us bring a compelling set of SSD innovations to the enterprise storage market, with benefits that range from enhanced performance, endurance and reliability to cost and capacity improvements. Overall, this agreement with Samsung strengthens our SSD solutions strategy, and positions Seagate well as global demand for storage continues on its strong growth path."
"We are pleased to be jointly developing a high-performance SSD controller with Seagate for the enterprise storage market," said Dr. Changhyun Kim, senior vice president and Samsung Fellow, Memory product planning & application engineering, Semiconductor Business, Samsung Electronics. "Our green memory solution is designed to enable more energy-efficient server applications, which is expected to increase the use of NAND-based SSD storage in enterprise applications."
About Seagate
Seagate is the world leader in hard disk drives and storage solutions. Learn more at www.seagate.com.
About Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2009 consolidated sales of US$116.8 billion. Employing approximately 188,000 people in 185 offices across 65 countries, the company consists of eight independently operated business units: Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, Digital Imaging, Semiconductor and LCD. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.
