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Toshiba snags SSD maker OCZ

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Add OCZ to Toshiba’s portfolio. Toshiba, which makes mechanical hard drives, solid-state drives (SSDs), and other PC components (in addition to its brand of PCs), announced that it acquired OCZ, a California-based manufacturer of SSDs. The terms of the deal are unavailable as of this writing.

The buyout comes after OCZ’s revenue sank to $33.5 million in the last quarter, before the acquisition by Toshiba finalized, from $88.6 million in the prior year, over the same period. However, the company also suffered from a notably smaller amount of losses as well: $26.1 million in the last quarter compared with $33.2 million during the same quarter a year earlier.

OCZ’s fortunes also took a hit when it defaulted on a loan after experiencing a considerable amount of difficulty when it came to acquiring a sufficient amount of flash memory chips that it needed in order to power its solid state drives. Considering that Toshiba makes its own flash memory chips, now that OCZ will be operating from under Toshiba’s umbrella, it should have no problems getting its paws on as many chips as it needs for storage devices.

In the meantime, OCZ will reportedly continue to operate independently of Toshiba and will be headquartered in San Jose, Calif.

What do you think of Toshiba acquiring OCZ? Sound off in the comments below.

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