Hitachi America Names Arthur LaNata, Jr. As Vice President, Sales for CD and DVD Products
Hitachi America Names Arthur LaNata, Jr. As Vice President, Sales for CD and DVD Products
BRISBANE, CA
Nov 13, 1997 00:00 AM
Hitachi America, Ltd., today announced that it has named Arthur LaNata, Jr. as vice president of sales for CD and DVD drives in the company's Computer Division. Mr. LaNata will be responsible for building on Hitachi's strong initial sales of DVD-ROM drives to personal computer OEMs and upgrade kit vendors to establish a leading position for the company in the expanding market for DVD-ROM and DVD-RAM standard products.
Mr. LaNata brings more than 30 years of high technology experience and two decades of computer industry sales expertise to his position at Hitachi. Most recently, he served as General Manager of the Integrated Storage Products Division of Sony Electronics, Inc. During his tenure at Sony, he successfully introduced multiple optical drives and storage libraries and achieved consistent profitable revenue growth.
"Hitachi is very well-positioned to lead the market transition from CD to DVD technology for multimedia personal computer and removable storage applications," said Mr. LaNata. "I am very excited about the opportunity to expand our already successful DVD-ROM business, and take part in the ramp-up and market launch of DVD-RAM standard drives."
Hitachi began volume shipments of the second generation, GD-2000 DVD-ROM drive earlier this year, and has secured designs with the top five personal computer manufacturers. The company's GF-1000 family of DVD-RAM standard drives is now being evaluated by OEM customers and will ramp up production in the first quarter. DVD-RAM standard drives use re-writable media that delivers 5.2 GB (dual-sided) or 2.6 GB (single-sided) of storage at a retail price of approximately $1.00 for each 100 MB. The drives can also read all existing recorded CD and DVD-ROM media, making DVD-RAM drives an ideal removable storage solution for PC applications.
Prior to joining Sony in 1994, as National Sales Manager for Industrial Distribution, Mr. LaNata held executive positions with two Northern California high-technology start-up firms. From 1977 to 1992, he held sales management positions with Digital Equipment Corporation, beginning in the aerospace/technical unit and ultimately managing national sales efforts for the transportation industry. Before entering the computer industry, Mr. LaNata worked for eleven years with prime contractors to NASA at the Johnson Space Flight Center, supporting the Apollo, ASTP, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs. He holds a B.S. in Physics from Southeastern Louisiana University and a M.S. in Computer Sciences from the University of Houston, and serves as a Captain in the U.S. Naval Reserve.
The Computer Division of Hitachi America, Ltd. sells high-capacity, high-performance hard disk drives, CD-ROM, and DVD drives through its Storage Products Group. Hitachi America, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., Japan, markets and manufactures a broad range of electronics, computer systems and semiconductor products, and provides industrial equipment and services throughout the U.S. Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics companies, with fiscal 1996 consolidated sales (ending March 31, 1997) of $68.7 billion. The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial equipment.