Japan's Hitachi said it would <A HREF="http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2106574,00.asp">close a parts factory in Mexico and cut 4500 jobs</A> as it aims to shave $300 million in costs in its loss-making hard disk drive business over the next five years.

Hitachi , which bought IBM's disk drive operations in 2002 for $2 billion, said it aimed to boost hard drive sales by up to 40 percent in calendar 2007. It said sales volume may slow until June but it expects them to pick up in the second half.