Mohtalim

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/new ... at-one-fab

Other HDD manufacturers to follow suit?

I'd say it's likely, but more in actual manufacturing as described in the article. WD wants to remain competitive in the market so it will have to keep investing in R&D, so they'll likely not cut there or cut less. However, one way to cut R&D is to outsource the work or buy a solution like many do for their ICs. Buying a solution can actually lower total cost per drive since the IC design is amortized over more manufacturers and more hard drives overall (assuming of course that the design cost at the vendor company is less than the drive makers combined). I won't comment on the difficulties with outsourcing.