Hitachi's new storage product manufacturing facility in Shenzhen went into operation yesterday, China Business News reports. The plant, called a "super hard drive production center," was built at a cost of US$500 million, and will manufacture 3.5 inch hard drives in its first stages. Later on, Hitachi will expand production to encompass its entire line of storage products. By 2008, when all production lines go into operation, the facility will have an annual capacity of 70,000 units, representing 50% of Hitachi's global annual hard drive production. The first batch of production was sold to buyers in Hong Kong and the Netherlands in January of this year. Hitachi has two other factories in Shenzhen: one is a joint venture with the Great Wall computer company to produce and assemble heads, and another that manufactures platters.Link: http://dycj.ynet.com/article.jsp?oid=7728276