Once  known as a supplier of premium DRAM modules, OCZ Technology has recognized its fiscal 2011 a transformational year for the company. In the year ended February 28, 2011, OCZ shifted its corporate focus away from the DRAM market while enhancing its lineup of solid state drives (SSD).
OCZ also recently began shipping its first OEM orders of enterprise class SSD, and secured a number of design wins with mass shipments starting in the current fiscal year. The OEM segment of its business is expected to become the company's new growth engine for the year ended February 28, 2012.
The following is an interview with Alex Mei, executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer of OCZ, during which he talked about the company's ambition in the SSD business, and his outlook for the company and the market.
Q: OCZ has its expertise in the premium SSD market. Why did you decide to tap the OEM sector? Which system integrators or PC manufacturers are you working with? Can you disclose any numbers, or names?
A: All of our announcements for customers are public as we are a publicly listed company on NASDAQ, I can't provide any details that have not been made public yet, but I can tell you that we are growing quickly in the OEM sector and it is a key focus area for us.
We have multiple wins from server companies, search providers and supercomputing clients. We are already very strong in the global channel and we decided about two years ago that we would focus on developing the products and support structure to address the enterprise and OEM markets as our SSD product line is a very good fit for the applications in this space. We believe that we are able to add a lot of value in this segment as we not only are focused on performance but endurance and reliability across a complete spectrum of interfaces.
Unlike many other competitors, we design and manufacture our own solutions and that allows us to offer tailored products for unique enterprise applications. We can build specific form factors with specific interfaces and special firmwares optimized for customer specific applications, this is part of our added value.
Q: Have you set any goals for the OEM business?
A: Yes, while I cannot provide percentages this is the fastest growing portion of our business, we are investing heavily in R&D and the support structure to support Tier-1 clients. We have already shipped to our first major Tier-1 client and will continue to ramp business with new clients globally. We are making a big push with SATA 6Gbps and PCIe products that address server applications.
Q: Has OCZ seen any supply chain disruption stemming from the March 11 earthquake in Japan ? Directly and indirectly? How about on the demand side?
A: While supply is always something we monitor closely, we have not had a direct impact to our product line as we purchase the majority of our NAND from domestic suppliers including Intel and Micron. We do use Toshiba NAND as well in certain products but have been able to get enough supply. While we saw an immediate effect of the demand side we have seen the region undergo an amazing recovery thus far.
Q: Can you talk about the recent acquisition of SSD controller supplier Indilinx ? Will you be showcasing some of your Indilinx -powered products at this year's Computex?
A: We acquired Indilinx because we believe that it is important for us to have captive controller technology that allows us to be more nimble in the space. Indilinx has a lot of expertise in controller and firmware development and a proven track record for designing products that offer a balance of performance and value for clients.
We continue to have a very strong strategic relationship with SandForce, and the Indilinx products are a very nice complement to the existing lineup of solutions. Moving forward, we will continue to use SandForce in our HPC (high-performance computing) and enterprise SSD offerings, and Indilinx in mainstream and some enterprise PCIe solutions. Indilinx also has expertise in the embedded space with their eMMC products and this is a key area of interest for us.
We are showing new Indilinx SSD controller and SSD products here at Computex 2011. One of the most exciting products makes use of our new Everext SATA3 6Gbps interface and delivers both performance and reliability for consumers.
Q: Channel distribution is a key part of product sales, how is OCZ doing in this area?
A: Absolutely, we have long supported the channel and this is a key area for us. The enthusiasts and DIY customers are what helped make OCZ what it is today, and we continue to grow our channel business worldwide. Our channel products are very popular among consumers looking for the highest performing solutions, but we are also making a strong push to make SSDs even more affordable to customers.
Q: Let's talk about the recently-launched Vertex 3? How do you differentiate it from other competitor SATA3 products ?
A: The Vertex 3 was the only next generation SandForce drive shipping in volume from the date of launch and continues to be the most popular on the market. Because we design and manufacture our own drives we are able to not only be first to market but offer a superior performing solution when it comes to performance and quality. We also develop a complete range of products using different types of flash to help make the technology more affordable, so while our competitors may only offer one flavor we offer three with the Vertex 3, Agility 3 and Solid 3. Each addresses a unique market with a price point that makes sense.
Q: Can you share your views about the outlook for SSD? What is your business outlook for 2011?
A: SSDs will continue to gain momentum and ramp in 2011, and we expect many more notebooks and blade servers to deploy SSD solutions. MLC has made SSD technology much more affordable to consumers, and will continue to drive adoption.
We also expect to see continued consolidation in the market as it matures, and we foresee a major uptick in demand in PCIe solutions in the enterprise and the use of different types of SSDs in tiering applications. Tiering is another major opportunity for our OEM solutions, and we are seeing different levels for example, our Z-Drive PCIe can be used in Tier-0 while our Deneva SATA2 SSDs can be used in Tier-1 for very write intensive applications and large density traditional hard drives can be used for larger less accessed data in Tier-2 and 3, by doing this clients can now use SSDs and HDDs together in a cost effective way that optimizes the data progression across all tiers.