IBM slow delivering fast disk drives

IBM's 10,000 RPM spindle speed drives are shipping now, months after they were due in the hands of Compaq, EMC and others. Big Blue profits have been hurt in the short-run and the long-run impact could be serious as buyers shift to Seagate disk drives to meet demand for enterprise server storage. Initially, IBM blamed the delay on the company's moving of operations from San Jose, Calif., to Japan last year but later admitted that design challenges played a role. Full production of the 10,000 RPM drives is expected within a few months, while Seagate expects to ship test versions of a 15,000 RPM drive.

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