Hitachi Ltd has pumped $80m into its Hitachi PC Corp US subsidiary based in Milpitas, California, so that the division can expand its product line and restructure its business model, cutting 40 jobs. Hitachi had not hitherto sold personal computers in the US or Europe when it established the Hitachi PC Corp in 1995, capitalized at $20m (CI No 2,787). The original remit was to design, develop, market, sell and service advanced notebooks and systems in North America. Since then the company has launched its Visionbook series of notebooks, a market it admits is challenging. Its plan now is to add servers designed for the corporate and small to medium business market to its product line, and to integrate its operations more closely with its parent company’s development, manufacturing, marketing, support and service capabilities, hence the job cuts. Hitachi PC will be immediately mainstreamed into its parent company’s design, manufacturing, research and development operations, a move that Hitachi says will provide it with additional resources and expanded third party partner relationships. Hitachi employs 16,000 people in North America, mostly under the Hitachi America Ltd banner, and over 2,000 in California.
