Rumor about hard drive maker Seagate may purchase Samsung Electronics' hard drive business has been spreading in IT market after report about Samsung considering selling its hard drive department was released; however, sources from the market watchers believe whether Seagate is capable or willing to acquire Samsung's hard drive business is still questionable.

Since Western Digital has just recently spent US$4.3 billion to acquire Hitachi and the transaction will not be completed until the third quarter, the company is unlikely to execute another acquisition in the short term.

As for Seagate, since the company is currently seeing both its hard drive shipments and profitability lower than Western Digital, while saw its profit in the fourth quarter of 2010 drop 71.85% on year to only US$150 million, the company's current finance status may not allow the company to perform acquisition shortly.

Seagate, benefiting by Western Digital acquiring Hitachi, is receiving orders from downstream PC players, which do not wish Western Digital to occupy most of the supply capacity, and their moves have successfully blocked Western Digital from owning 50% of the hard drive market share in terms of shipments.

If Samsung sells its hard drive business, the company may turn to focus on NAND flash-based storage devices, the sources noted.