By Martin Vedris

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA: Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) today announced that it will acquire Fabrik, Inc, a privately supplier of personal and professional storage brands include G-Technology and SimpleTech.

The acquisition strategically positions Hitachi in the fast-growing external storage business.

According to a release from Hitachi, the industry analyst firm IDC expects worldwide personal storage device shipments to grow from approximately 52 million in 2008 to 123 million in 20121.

Hitachi advised that the Fabrik business will form the core of Hitachi GST’s newly-formed external storage business. Hitachi GST will fully support the G-Technology and SimpleTech product lines. The combined company will aim to distribute a full portfolio of traditional hard drives, solid state drives and branded personal and professional storage products.

“The Fabrik acquisition becomes the cornerstone for the next phase of our business transformation,” said Hitachi GST President, Steve Milligan. “It strategically expands our market presence, strengthens our product portfolio, and increases our customer base.

“Fabrik is a key component of our growth and profit strategy going forward and will enable us to deliver a differentiated set of products across a broad range of end-user market segments.”