Western Digital, a California-based specialist in hard drive storage, has acquired SiliconSystems, a supplier of solid state drives, for $65 million (£45.5 million) in cash. SiliconSystems will now trade as WD Solid-State Storage. 

Western Digital, a California-based specialist in hard drive storage, has acquired SiliconSystems, a supplier of solid state drives, for $65 million (£45.5 million) in cash. SiliconSystems will now trade as WD Solid-State Storage.

Michael Hajeck, founder and chief executive of SiliconSystems, said: “WD’s strong balance sheet, sales reach, and operations and logistics capabilities will allow us to greatly accelerate our penetration of existing markets, while combining our engineering expertise with WD.”

Western Digital reported second-quarter revenues down by a third to $1.4 billion (£900 million). John Coyne, president and CEO of Western Digital, commented: “Against a backdrop of unprecedented global economic turmoil and a rapid intra-quarter fall-off in demand for hard drives, WD acted swiftly to align production and operating expenses with significantly lower than originally planned unit volumes.”