NETWORK STORAGE Hitachi Finds Room In Storage The electronics maker's data storage units are grabbing larger market share.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)

Byline: Brian Deagon

It's not often that an economic downturn benefits a company, but the currentslowdown hasn't hurt Hitachi Data Systems.

While U.S. spending on technology has been trimmed in response to economic jitters, more and more companies are taking a closer look at products from Hitachi.

Hitachi Data Systems used to be a mainframe manufacturer that sold storage on the side. But a year ago, Hitachi began the transition to being a pure play in storage systems.

Industry analysts have taken notice, partly because Hitachi's good fortunes could mean bad luck for industry leader EMC Corp. and others.

Analysts say HDS has some of the best technology on the market, and it's sold at prices that frequently undercut the competition.

"Hitachi Data is the best-kept secret in storage," said Steve Duplessie, an analyst at research firm Enterprise Storage Group.