Western Digital Recalls 400,000 Disk Drives
Western Digital Corp., already suffering through two years of staggering losses, massive layoffs and a plunging stock price, said Monday it is voluntarily recalling 400,000 hard disk drives, the first such action in its 29-year history.
The Irvine-based company said it was recalling the drives, the part of the computer that stores data, because of a defect in a chip provided by an outside supplier, whom the company declined to name.
Western Digital officials said it wasn’t clear how much the recall will cost, or how many of the affected hard drives actually landed in consumers’ hands.
Many still are with computer manufacturers and sellers. Western Digital’s major manufacturing customers are Gateway Inc., Compaq Computer Corp. and Dell Computer Corp. Western Digital officials said other hard-drive manufacturers also may be affected by the defect, as the maker of the faulty chip also supplies its competitors.
The defect, which affects one of Western Digital’s most significant product lines, could cause the hard drives to fail to power up after six to 12 months of full-time use, the company said.
“No data has been lost, and none is in danger of being lost,” said Charles Haggerty, Western Digital’s chief executive.
Company officials said tests conducted over the weekend confirmed the defect. Western Digital disclosed the recall after the stock market closed Monday. Its shares fell 13 cents, or 3%, to $4.19 on the New York Stock Exchange.
The 400,000 drives that are being recalled were made between Aug. 27 and Sept. 24 and are among the 1 million or so that the company made in that period. The recalled drives are part of the WD Caviar series, officials said.
The affected drives have capacities that range from 6.4 gigabytes to 20.5 gigabytes, the company said.
Consumers who have bought computers in the last month can check their machines’ specification sheets to see if they include a Western Digital drive.
The company’s Website, https://www.westerndigital.com, offers a software program that can be downloaded to identify any affected products. The company also has a support hotline, (800) 357-1374.
