UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D. C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Commission File Number 0-16852
Date of Report: August 5, 1999
KOMAG, INCORPORATED
(Registrant)
Incorporated in the State of Delaware
I.R.S. Employer Identification Number 94-2914864
1704 Automation Parkway, San Jose, California 95131
Telephone: (408) 576-2000
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ITEM 5: OTHER EVENTS
The Company issued the following press release on August 5, 1999:
Komag Announces Management Changes
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
San Jose, California (August 5, 1999): Komag, Incorporated (Nasdaq: KMAG), the
world's largest independent supplier of thin-film media for computer hard disk
drives, today announced the appointment of Thian Hoo (T.H.) Tan as president and
chief executive officer. The company also announced the retirement of cofounders
Stephen C. Johnson, its former president and chief executive officer, and Dr. Tu
Chen, its former chairman of the board.
The board of directors selected T.H. Tan as the company's new president and
chief executive officer based on his extensive manufacturing background at both
Komag and other high technology companies. During his ten-year tenure at Komag
he has been personally responsible for the formation and start-up of the
company's world-class manufacturing facilities in both the United States and
Malaysia. The intense pricing pressures in the data storage industry have made
technology leadership a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for success in
the disk business.
"Given T.H.'s background and experience the board is delighted that he has
accepted this new challenge," said Michael Splinter, board member and senior
vice president and general manager of the technology and manufacturing group at
Intel Corporation.
"Steve Johnson provided dynamic leadership while Tu Chen guided the technology
vision of the company since its founding in 1983. The company is deeply indebted
to the substantial contributions of these two industry pioneers," said Chris
Eyre, longtime Komag board member.
"Komag has leadership technology, a strong management team, high quality
products and manufacturing capacity in cost-advantaged locations. We are the
largest independent disk producer in the world and are regarded as a capable,
high quality supplier by our key customers. Our goal is to extend our leadership
position, to overcome difficult market conditions, and to restore the company to
financial health," said Tan.
"Our future success will depend on manufacturing excellence and leveraging
technology to lower product costs to levels that stimulate new applications.
With our large installed capacity base in Malaysia we are positioned to have the
lowest cost structure in the industry. We've taken the first step to more fully
utilize these low cost facilities by shifting large-scale production from our
U.S. operation to our three Malaysian factories.
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Our U.S. resources will now focus on the design and development of new processes
and products to meet customer needs and the industry demands for lower cost
storage solutions. Under my leadership we will manage company resources tightly,
actively pursue new customer partnerships and evaluate opportunities to effect
changes in the structure of the media industry," said Tan.
Forward-Looking Statements:
This release contains forward-looking statements, including statements related
to executive management changes and the company's ability to deliver leadership
products based on its process technologies, achieve low manufacturing costs,
influence the structure of the media industry, and create new customer
partnerships.
While this outlook represents Komag's current judgment on the future direction
of the business, actual results may differ materially from any future
performance suggested above. Recent actions taken to restructure its operations
might disrupt the company's ability to execute against customer obligations and
operational improvement. Such failures to execute would jeopardize the
anticipated improvements in the company's financial performance. Due to the
volume purchase agreement with WDC, the company's results continue to remain
highly dependent on the relative success of WDC in the data storage market.
Other risk factors that may affect the company's financial performance are
listed in the company's various SEC filings, including its Form 10-K for the
year ended January 3, 1999. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly
release any revisions to these forward-looking statements.
About Komag:
Founded in 1983, Komag, Incorporated has produced over 400 million thin-film
disks, the primary storage medium for digital data used in computer disk drives.
The company is well-positioned as the broad-based strategic supplier of choice
for the industry's leading disk drive manufacturers. Through its highly
automated factories in the United States, Japan and Southeast Asia, Komag
provides high quality, leading-edge disk products at a low overall cost of
ownership. These attributes enable Komag to partner with customers in the
execution of their time-to-market design and time-to-volume manufacturing
strategies.
For more information about Komag, visit Komag's Internet home page at
http://www.komag.com or call Komag's Investor Relations 24-hour Hot Line at
888-66-KOMAG or 408-576-2901.
Contact: KOMAG, INCORPORATED, San Jose, CA
William L. Potts, Jr. at (408) 576-2053 or
Ted Siegler at (408) 576-2209
E-mail communications: [email protected]
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of San Jose, State of
California, on August 6, 1999.
KOMAG, INCORPORATED
(Registrant)
DATE: August 6, 1999 BY: /s/ William L. Potts, Jr.
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William L. Potts, Jr.
Senior Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer