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Interview OCZ Storage Solutions
Many of you know that OCZ Technology has been in rough weather last year, that's up-to the point where the company needed to file a chapter 11 bankruptcy, with the purpose to be taken over by Toshiba. The SSD market is fierce and competitive, if you are your own NAND flash manufacturer then you can sell your products cheap. If you sell NAND flash to a party like OCZ, then OCZ pays a premium price, making it hard for them to actually offer a price competitive solution.
Toshiba need channel integration of Enterprise and Consumer level product, OCZ has all that intellectual properly, channel access yet needed access to cheap NAND. And the combination as such can be golden.
In this Interview we'll talk to Tobias Brinkmann Vice President, Global Marketing to see what has happened over the past few months, and how it affects consumers and clients.
Hello Tobias , thanks for the time to answer some of our questions in this Q&A. Q: Can you tell us who you are and what your position at OCZ Storage solutions (OCZ from now on) is. Also can you tell us a little bit about your work before OCZ ? A: Thank you for the opportunity to talk to you and be able to give your readers some insight to OCZ Storage Solutions. My name is Tobias Brinkmann and I am responsible for global PR and Marketing. I joined OCZ back in 2006 and have been active in several parts of the company and worked on both the European and American continents. Before I joined OCZ, I was Marketing Manager for Komplett for a number of years. Q: Can you tell us why OCZ has been in such rough water last year and why it needed a takeover from a party like Toshiba ? We have gone through several difficult periods in the past few years. It is always easy to analyze a situation in hindsight, however I prefer to look at the bright future we have ahead of us. But if I would have to mention one thing it has to be sustainable growth and profitability should have been prioritized more. What we have been missing in the recent past is the direct access to NAND which you need in the SSD market today in order to stay competitive and position yourself as a relevant player. The SSD market is one of the fastest growing segments in the IT industry today. According to analysts the market size will be over $23 billion by 2017 so having that direct access to NAND will be a major competitive advantage. Our goal is now to grow market share again both in the consumer and enterprise space. OCZ was among the very first companies to launch a consumer SSD back in 2008. Since then we have established a large IP and patent portfolio both through in house development and acquisitions. Our Barefoot 3 controller is one, if not the highest performing controller on the market, especially when it comes to sustained performance. We now have all four pillars that will enable us to grow market share: a market leading in-house controller, application software, firmware and direct access to NAND. Q: What advantages brings the takeover to OCZ ? As I mentioned, after the acquisition by Toshiba, we now have all 4 pillars in-house that are needed to be a true competitor in this market place. OCZ now has a market leading in-house controller, application software, firmware and direct access to NAND. All these elements are essential to gain full control over the product development and the further growth of OCZ Storage Solutions in both the enterprise as the consumer space. Q: What advantages brings the takeover to Toshiba ? Toshiba acquired the assets of OCZ for a number of reasons; the Intellectual Property (IP) including patents, controller technology, the brand OCZ, the team and the access to the global sales channel within the consumer and enterprise markets. Bringing all these assets into Toshiba’s group has many obvious advantages. Next page please.
