(Adds details about outlook, byline)
By Tim McLaughlin
BOSTON, April 30 (Reuters) - Hitachi Data Systems, the data-storage unit of Japanese electronics giant Hitachi Ltd. (6501.T), on Tuesday said it expects its storage revenue to increase 12 percent in fiscal 2002 while some of the industry's leaders experience sharp declines. ADVERTISEMENT
Hitachi Data Systems President David Roberson during an interview with Reuters in Boston said that the Santa Clara, California-based company expects revenue of $2.32 billion during the fiscal year that ends March 31, up from $2.08 billion in fiscal 2001.
"We're seeing a lot of growth in the high-end storage market," Roberson said.
EMC Corp. (NYSE:EMC - news), the world's No. 1 data-storage firm, reported a 44 percent decline in total revenue during the March quarter. Analysts expect EMC's revenue to decline sharply in 2002 compared with year-ago levels.
A price war in the high-end data-storage market among Hitachi Data, IBM Corp. (NYSE:IBM - news) and EMC has hurt profit margins as they compete for the business of the world's largest corporations.
"Prices will continue to decline and anyone who thinks this will stop is wrong," Roberson said.
Roberson said Hitachi Data's goal is to overtake EMC and become No. 1 in overall data-storage revenue by the end of 2004. That's a bold forecast because Hitachi's total storage revenue in fiscal 2001 lagged EMC's by about $3.8 billion.