Nidec Corporation (Kyoto, Japan) is building yet another factory, this time in China, to produce disk drive spindle motors employing the latest fluid dynamic bearing technology.

The disk drive market is huge by any measure. There were over 200 million disk drives manufactured in 2001, and the number is growing quickly as they find their way beyond computers and into more and more consumer electronics.

With over 70% of the world market for disk drive motors, Nidec is transitioning rapidly to fluid dynamic bearings from traditional miniature ball bearings.

In the disk drive motor application, ball bearings reached the end of their development potential. Hydrodynamic, or fluid-film, bearings offer superior performance in every respect -- from speed, storage density and noise to vibration and reliability.

Over 188 million disk drives were manufactured in 2000, vitally all using two miniature ball bearings in the motor - a market for 380 million bearings. By the end of next year, the number may well fall to zero with Nidec leading the way. Nidec's production using ball bearings is already down to 65% and is falling as fast as new fluid bearing factories can be ramped up. By the end of first quarter 2002, Nidec says its production mix will be evenly split. And by the end of 2003, ball bearing disk drive motors will probably disappear...from 380 million bearings to zero in three years.

Nidec's new facility, to be built in China's Zhejiang Province, is the company's eighth but its first in China. Named Nidec Zhejiang Corporation, construction is set to begin in April with production ramp-up in October 2002. The company expects to spend USD $200 million on the factory, and projects it will employ over 10,000 workers by 2004.

Nidec already manufactures fluid dynamic bearings for its precision motors at four plants in Thailand, one in Singapore and two in the Philippines.

NTN, a leading vendor of the miniature ball bearings used in disk drive motors, recently formed a joint venture with Nidec to build one of those Philippines factories. It is expected to come on line in April, eventually producing 8.5 million fluid dynamic bearing motors per month using an NTN technology for sintered alloy metals.

Other manufacturers of fluid film bearing drive motors are Sankyo and Koyo.