Seagate Forms Consumer Solutions Division

Seagate
Technology announced organizational refinements that
represent the next step in the company’s evolution to better serve both
traditional and emerging storage markets. Seagate has formed the Seagate Consumer Solutions division, which
leverages the company’s current consumer electronics (CE) component
relationships with the growing scale of its branded solutions business.

Brian Dexheimer, currently EVP and chief sales and marketing officer, will
become division president, assuming direct responsibility for this new
organization. The Consumer Solutions division is comprised of the former
Seagate Branded Solutions (SBS) business unit dedicated to delivering branded
storage solutions under the Seagate and Maxtor brands, along with the
company’s CE business unit. The CE business unit currently serves customers
who design and distribute consumer electronics products such as game consoles,
personal media players, digital video recorders and other home media devices.
Within the new combined organization, the CE business will remain under the
direct management of general manager Pat King, who will also lead branded
sales and marketing activities.

Dave Wickersham, president and COO, will assume responsibility for
Seagate’s Enterprise Compute business unit under general manager Sherman
Black’s management; the Personal Compute business unit led by general manager
Mike Wingert; and the New Business Initiatives/Advanced Technology business
unit led by general manager Phil Pollok.

"The home storage market is expected to grow tenfold in the next five
years and represents an increasingly significant opportunity for Seagate,"
said Bill Watkins, Seagate CEO. "By combining the branded and CE business
units we leverage our strength in both areas to deliver a consolidated vision
and innovative integrated storage solutions designed to accommodate the
rapidly escalating requirements of digital content storage, protection,
expansion and organization in the home. In addition, we believe there are
secondary benefits that will allow us to optimize cost and process efficiency
while offering greater scale and consistency in product development, and
increase coordination and leverage in sales and marketing."

"The Enterprise and Personal Compute business units share common DNA in
the technical innovation around capacity, performance, power consumption and
other customer requirements," continued Watkins. "I believe that a closer and
more formal alignment between these business units and the core Design,
Development, Operations, and Quality organizations reporting in to Dave will
facilitate faster communication, faster prioritization, and faster decision
making, further benefiting how we execute in these critical markets."

Seagate
Technology