Western Digital May Close Factory

Western Digital Corp., the world’s third-largest independent disk drive maker, may shut one of its factories in Singapore and fire 800 employees, Singapore newspapers reported.

The Irvine-based company is looking to close its factory for manufacturing high-end disk drives and shift some of the production to another plant in Singapore, the Business Times and Straits Times said. The move could also lead to some production moving out of Singapore to Malaysia, where the costs are lower, they reported.

Company officials in Irvine declined to comment on the reports, other than to say they are reviewing Western’s manufacturing in general. The company has no plans, however, to hire other firms to manufacture its disk drives, spokesman Robert Blair said.

“Don’t expect to see us subcontracting,” Blair said. “We are not considering having someone else manufacture drives for us.”

The hard-drive industry, including Western Digital, has been struggling with low margins and overcapacity over the last year.

If Western Digital does shut the plant, it would be the latest in a series of closures in Singapore, which is struggling with its first recession in 13 years.