Great Wall Tech, IBM make landmark team
( 2002-03-02 11:22 ) (7 )

IBM and Great Wall Technology Ltd signed a groundbreaking agreement on Thursday which will make Great Wall Technology the first Chinese company to manufacture and sell computer hard disk drives to the worldwide market.

According to the deal, Great Wall Technology's subsidiary, ExcelStor Technology, will manufacture the 40 gigabyte version of IBM's newly released Deskstar 120 GXP desktop drive, designed to support desktop and multimedia applications.

The first ExcelStor-made drive is expected to roll off the assembly line in the second half of this year.

The annual production of the new plant is to reach about 10 million units.

The three-year deal includes two parts: IBM will sell its 3.5-inch, Deskstar 120GXP drives manufactured by ExcelStor under the IBM brand worldwide.

ExcelStor will also develop and market the drives under its own brand through an intellectual property licence from IBM.

The agreement makes ExcelStor the first domestic company to manufacture hard disk drives for IBM and to market drives under its own brand.

The new plant, which will be based in Shenzhen, is also expected to create more than 3,000 jobs for the special economic zone.

Doug Grose, general manager of IBM Storage Technology Division, said, "IBM will realize savings through co-operation with Great Wall Technology."