Quantum looks to expand its share in mainland

Storage systems specialist Quantum expects its recently announced restructuring efforts to pay off in Asia, with fresh deals to supply tape drives to some of the mainland's large computer manufacturers.

Senior officials said on Friday those discussions would be underway after the company completed its acquisition of Benchmark Storage Innovations, a privately held firm that mkes tape drives and media based on Quantum technologies.

Quantum Asia-Pacific general manager Alex Tan said of the firm's plans regarding the mainland: 'We're already looking to expand our existing relationship with Legend Group and tap other Chinese OEMs [original equipment manufacturers].'

At present, Quantum supplies Legend with tape drives for its low-cost, entry-level servers. Worldwide, Quantum's biggest OEM customer is Hewlett-Packard (HP).

Mr Tan said a growing number of mainland enterprises, including small and medium-sized businesses, now demanded higher-grade servers and storage systems that required a broader range of tape drive and tape media devices inside them.

'The Benchmark acquisition will enable Quantum to expand its DLT tape business with Chinese OEMs and other large computer manufacturers by leveraging Benchmark's complementary products,' he said, adding that India was another growth market for its tape drives.

That deal formed part of a restructuring strategy unveiled by Quantum last week.