Amstrad puts WD in dock over faulty hard drives

The long-running case between Amstrad and hard drive manufacturer Western Digital (WD) will hit the courts this summer, possibly netting Alan Sugar's company a cool #70m in damages and costs, writes VNU Newswire's Mike Magee.

In the early 1990s, Amstrad's push into the corporate PC market with its PC 2000 model came unstuck after widespread reports of hard drive failures halted its progress as a premier PC company.

Amstrad blamed storage manufacturers Seagate and WD for the hard drive problems. The case against Seagate was heard last year and Amstrad is still waiting for a judgement. The case against WD is expected to begin in June.

According to the case against WD, 70,000 faulty hard drives were supplied. The judge who heard Amstrad's case against Seagate will also examine the WD suit.

All involved parties declined to talk to the press. because of the delicate legal issues involved.

Last month Orange County, California judge Robert Thomas recommended WD's legal advisors resign the case.