Western Digital makes Malaysia switch

Western Digital has said it will cut 2,500 manufacturing jobs in Singapore as it moves operations to neighbouring Malaysia, where costs are lower.

While a mass exodus from the island - dubbed the world disk drive capital - may not be on the cards, the move follows comments that vendors should put an end to unsustainable price slashing.

Quantum CEO, Mike Brown, last week spoke about an industry in "self-destruct mode" because of increasingly "crazy" prices. He said industry giant, Seagate Technology, is the main culprit.

Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard is this week expected to be the latest storage stalwart to unveil Fibre Channel-based disk systems and tape libraries, aimed at high-end users.