SSD Landscape Shifts with Seagate’s SandForce Acquisition

Change is in the wind and it’s shaking up the solid-state drive industry.

Seagate paid $450 million last week to acquire parts of LSI from Avago. The two jewels Seagate picked up in the deal are the LSI Flash Components Division (which includes the important Sand Force controller technology) and the LSI Accelerated Solutions Division (which is focused on products for large datacenter operations).

Along with Western Digital, Seagate is one of only two major players in global hard drive manufacturing. The acquisition puts Seagate in a potentially disruptive position, since it now owns the rights to proprietary controller technology that was previously shared with other manufacturers through special licensing agreements.

“Seagate is committed to providing our customers with a complete range of storage solutions, and this acquisition will significantly enhance our flash storage offerings to supplement our existing portfolio,” said Steve Luczo, Chairman and CEO of Seagate.

“This acquisition immediately boosts Seagate’s range and depth of flash storage capabilities today,” Luczo also said. “And these teams bring to Seagate, the expertise to accelerate our roadmap in this important and growing market.”

There’s nothing more specific at this time on Seagate’s plans, but here are two expert analyses from Forbes and Motley Fool.

Stayed tuned for more details as the industry realignment takes shape.