Western Digital Corp. executives are keeping a close eye on the escalating tension in Thailand after government officials issued a state of emergency there late last month.
The Irvine-based disk drive maker operates three large factories in Thailand, including a 1.6-million-square-foot plant in Bang Pa-In, which is about 32 miles from the violent government protests raging in the capitol of Bangkok. Its 739,000-square-foot plant in Prachin Buri is within 10 miles of the fiercest confrontations.
Western Digital Chief Executive Steve Milligan said the company has yet to see operational disruptions but is paying close attention to the situation.
“One of our primary things is to continue to make sure that our facilities and employees are safe,” Milligan said in a recent conference call with analysts following the company’s December quarter earnings report that beat Wall Street expectations. “We are making sure that we have got appropriate transportation for them and that sort of thing, so that our facilities and our employees are protected.”
Western Digital employs some 37,000 people in Thailand, its main manufacturing hub where it ships about 60% of its disk drives from.
Thailand is the world’s second largest producer of disk drives after China, as well as a major supplier of hard drive components. The country also houses major contract factories for Aliso Viejo-based chipmaker Microsemi Corp. and data storage equipment maker Emulex Corp. in Costa Mesa.
Dealing with upheaval in Southeast Asia is nothing new for Western Digital. The company recovered from massive floods in late 2011 that forced its Thailand factories to shut down for months.
It provided a mixed outlook for the current quarter, projecting revenue in the range of $3.65 billion to $3.75 billion, in line with Wall Street expectations.
Adjusted profits are projected to be between $425.3 million and $449 million, lower than analyst consensus estimates of $460.8 million.
Western Digital is the world’s largest disk drive maker in units shipped and revenue and is OC’s most valued technology company, at about $20.57 billion.
1 Million Hangin w/
The latest application from Fountain Valley startup MEDL Mobile Holdings Inc. has surpassed 1 million downloads, a key milestone in the world of social media.
“Hang w/,” released in March, allows fans to follow their favorite musicians, athletes and actors through a live stream with simultaneous chat.
The app, which the company said hit the 1 million benchmark faster than Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook, leverages entertainers’ legions of digital followers.
MEDL has attracted more than 100 celebrities and athletes, including Larry the Cable Guy, Terrell Owens and 50 Cent, who invested an undisclosed amount in the company last year.
The company last month introduced a beta version of the app geared for Google Glass at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
MEDL, which is traded on the over-the-counter Bulletin Board, posted sales of $2.6 million in the 12 months through June. That represented a 181.5% jump in two years and secured it the No. 3 ranking among small companies with sales of less than $100 million, according to the Business Journal’s annual report of the fastest-growing public companies last year.
