alifornia,
the world’s leading centre of hi-tech industry, is a place where
many people would give their eye-teeth to work. No other place in the
world has invested so much in research and development, both in educational
institutions and in the private sector.
What
California invents, goes the saying, the world will inevitably come
to need. Although the global economic slump has hit Silicon Valley and
the Bay Area, most economic analysts expect them to rebound. The reason
for such confidence lies in California’s ability to both continually
develop new technology and to rapidly commercialise and export it.
Three key areas predicted to expand are nanotechnology, biotechnology
and environmental technology. A fourth area is no less predictable –
the world of entertainment.
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Michael Cannon
‘The
industry can deliver significant storage at affordable costs’
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Michael
Cannon, a director of Maxtor, one of the world’s
leading hard disk drive makers, points out that the world’s first
hard disk drive, from IBM, appeared 40 years ago. Mr Cannon, who recently
retired from his position as President and Chief Executive of Maxtor
while maintaining his seat on its board of directors, says: “The
disk drive market is extraordinarily competitive, and it always has
been.
“Some
people view that as a problem. But it’s because of its hyper-competitiveness
that the industry has remained so relevant. Disk drive technology today
is more important to society than I’ve ever known it to be.”
The capacity and performance of disk drives has constantly increased
and costs have been reduced. This has made them more affordable for
a wider range of applications.
Mr
Cannon believes the industry will continue to consolidate. “This
will be very positive,” he says. “What you’ll see is
large-scale enterprises with very capable R&D resources and the
ability to manufacture at a very low cost.”
When
he was CEO of Maxtor he steered the company through the acquisition
of Quantum Corp’s hard disk drive division, a move that established
the company as one of the world’s largest manufacturers. Maxtor,
based in Milpitas in Silicon Valley, makes around one million disk drives
a week and had sales worth £1.7 billion in the first nine months
of last year.
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| Pre-eminent
position: Maxtor Corporation headquarters in Milpitas |
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Mr
Cannon, who, as well as holding the directorship at Maxtor, recently
became President and Chief Executive Officer of hi-tech manufacturing
giant Solectron, also based in Milpitas, says: “The use of disk
drives for consumer electronics shows how this technology continues
to enable new products. Personal video recording, for example, which
is gaining in popularity, would not exist if it were not for disk drives.
“In
the not-too-distant future, these types of consumer electronics products
will be very widely used. If we look at how the personal video recorder
market is developing, it looks very much like the way the VCR developed
years ago. Today, virtually everyone has at least one VCR.
“Another
application for hard disk drive technology in the future will be video
games. Some manufacturers are offering hard disk drives as options for
their game consoles, that intensify the visual experience. Again, this
market would not have been possible had it not been for the hard drive
industry’s ability to deliver significant storage capacities at
affordable costs.”
Lon
Hatamiya, Secretary of the California Technology, Trade and Commerce
Agency, says: “We’re at the cutting edge because of the R&D
invested here, and because our educational institutions are some of
the best in the world and are very good at producing great ideas which
can then be further commercialised.”
To maintain California’s pre-eminent position, the state government
has created four new ‘Centres for Science and Innovation’
at the University of California. “These will take innovative ideas
to the private sector so as to bring to fruition products that will
be beneficial globally,” says Mr Hatamiya.
One
problem that looked as if it might hold back further growth in California
has now been solved – reliable energy supplies. Mr Hatamiya says
19 new power plants are either up and running or under construction.
“We’ll have surplus energy production in this state, and that
bodes well for anyone who is looking to invest here.”