Seagate to Close Anaheim Facility

Seagate Technology Inc., the leading maker of disk drives for personal computers, said Thursday it is closing its Anaheim manufacturing plant and dismissing nearly all of its 621 workers there.

The Scotts Valley, Calif., company said the Anaheim plant, along with one in Mexicali, Mexico, that has 591 employees, will be shut down this summer. The work will be consolidated at a Seagate plant in Limavady, Ireland, which will manufacture nearly all of its disk drives.

The closings do not affect Seagate’s Costa Mesa operation, where 365 marketing, sales, assembly and business employees work for the company’s removable data storage division.

Disk-drive makers have been struggling under a price war and sluggish orders. But economists said Seagate’s move reflects a larger cycle typical in high-tech industries.

Seagate shares fell 38 cents to $51.50 on the New York Stock Exchange.