AMONG the many high-value products that Hong Kong manufactures for export are sophisticated electronics parts and components for the computer industry and it is generally accepted that one of the most important factors leading to the emergence of Hong Kong's electronics industry has been the involvement of multinationals and overseas conglomerates.
As far back as the 1960s some of these companies not only had the foresight to identify Hong Kong's potential as a manufacturer of high-technology products but were also prepared to invest heavily in the territory. One such firm, a world leader in the manufacture of sophisticated personal information mass-storage equipment, is the San Jose, California-based, Maxtor Corporation.
This Fortune 500 company, which ranks 13th among top American computer manufacturers, develops, manufactures and markets high performance equipment for desktop and mobile computer systems. Maxtor employs about 8,400 people worldwide.
The printed circuit board (PCB) plant of its subsidiary, Maxtor (Hong Kong) Ltd, with a complement of more than 1,400, including 150 management and professional staff, is housed in a 180,000 sq ft factory at Yau Tong, Kowloon. This facility, which cost more than $300 million to establish, has 11 Surface Mount Technology production lines manufacturing PCB assemblies for hard disk drives.
Maxtor HK produced an annual internal revenue of more than US$300 million (about HK$2.33 billion) last year. It supplied one per cent of the territory's total domestic exports and 23 per cent of its domestic exports to Singapore in 1992.
In the first half this year, Maxtor exported US$200 million (about HK$1.55 billion) worth of PCBAs for hard disk drives. Mount Technology, Maxtor HK maintains a continuous investment in technological and automation to the tune of over $50 million a year. The company began production in the territory in 1984 under the name MiniScribe (Hong Kong) Ltd and was acquired by Maxtor Corp in 1990.