Soft demand shuts Seagate Suzhou plant

Source: Xinhua | 2017-01-18

AMERICAN computer hardware manufacturer Seagate Technology has closed one of its two assembly factories in China due to weak global demand for personal computers and corporate hard drives.

“The past year has been very challenging for Seagate, requiring many difficult decisions. We had to say goodbye to 14 percent of our colleagues at sites around the world as we have significantly reduced our global footprint,” said Mike Small, its vice president for tax and international trade administration.

Another company official based in China confirmed Seagate has terminated contracts with employees of its Suzhou plant in Jiangsu Province.

Seagate has raised investment in its plant in the nearby city of Wuxi.

Small said the Wuxi plant remains vital to the company’s global supply chain.

Seagate remains confident and committed to the Chinese market and will release new products on security surveillance, robotics, Internet of Things and cloud computing.