Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Suspension Assemblies Antitrust Litigation

The Court has allowed, or “certified.” a class action lawsuit that may affect you if you are a person or entity in the Indirect Purchaser States, except OEMs (as defined in FAQ 9), who, during the period from January 2003 through May 2016, purchased a Standalone Storage Device or Computer for resale which included as a component part one or more SAs that were manufactured or sold by Defendants, any current or former subsidiary of Defendants, or any co-conspirator of Defendants, or who indirectly purchased an SA, for resale, that was manufactured or sold by Defendants, any current or former subsidiary of Defendants, or any co-conspirator of Defendants.

A Judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California is overseeing this class action. The lawsuit is known as In re: Hard Disk Drive Suspension Assemblies Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 19-md-02918-MMC (the “lawsuit”).

This Notice only applies to the class of Reseller Plaintiffs. The representative Reseller Plaintiffs are Now Micro. Inc., Integrated Technical Systems. Inc. d/b/a Network One, It Worx, Inc., Stephen Arvay, and Michael Medeiros.

In this Notice, “Defendants” refers to TDK Corporation; Hutchinson Technology Inc.; Magnecomp Precision Technology Public Co., Ltd.; Magnecomp Corporation; and SAE Magnetics (H.K.) Ltd. (collectively, “TDK Defendants”); and NHK Spring Co., Ltd.; NHK International; NAT Peripheral (Dong Guan) Co., Ltd.; NAT Peripheral (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd.; and NHK Spring (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (collectively, “NHK Defendants”).

In a class action, one or more people (called class representatives) sue on behalf of all people who have similar legal claims. Together, all these people are called a class or class members. One court resolves the issues for all class members, except for those class members who timely exclude themselves (opt out) from the class.

The Reseller Plaintiffs allege Defendants conspired to fix prices of the SAs, a component contained in hard disk drives. The Reseller Plaintiffs further allege the Defendants sold SAs to HDD manufacturers (like Seagate, Western Digital, and Toshiba) who in turn sold the HDDs to distributors (like Ingram Micro, D&H, MA Labe, and Synnex) or directly to companies that make storage devices and computers called OEMs (as defined in FAQ 9) who sell their computers and storage devices to distributors and resellers. SAs are a necessary component of HDDs and are found in products such as laptop and desktop computers, and computer servers. The Reseller Plaintiffs bought thousands of HDDs and products containing HDDs from these distributors, OEMs, or retailers. The Reseller Plaintiffs assert because Defendants charged unfairly high prices for their SAs to the HDD manufacturers, those higher prices were passed down the chain to the Reseller Plaintiffs.

Defendants deny the legal claims and deny the alleged wrongdoing and liability. No court or other judicial entity has made any judgment or other determination of the alleged wrongdoing by the Defendants.

The Court has not decided whether Reseller Plaintiffs or Defendants are right. By establishing the class and providing information, the Court has not decided and is not suggesting that Reseller Plaintiffs will win or lose this lawsuit. The parties have a chance to prove or disprove their legal claims and/or defenses. The Reseller Plaintiffs must prove their legal claims at a trial.

The Reseller Plaintiffs are asking for money for the Reseller Class members for Defendants’ alleged wrongdoings. The Reseller Plaintiffs are also asking for injunctive relief or equitable relief (a legal term that means Reseller Plaintiffs are asking Defendants to stop doing the alleged wrongdoings) as decided by the Court, and attorneys’ fees and costs for Class Counsel.

No money or benefits are available now. The Court has not decided whether Defendants did anything wrong, and Reseller Plaintiffs and Defendants have not settled the lawsuit. There is no guarantee that money or benefits will be obtained in the future. You will be notified if money or benefits will become available.

The Court “certified” a Reseller Class defined as all persons or entities in the Indirect Purchaser States, except OEMs (as defined in FAQ 9), who, during the period from January 2003 through May 2016, purchased a Standalone Storage Device or Computer for resale which included as a component part one or more SAs that were manufactured or sold by Defendants, any current or former subsidiary of Defendants, or any co-conspirator of Defendants, or who indirectly purchased an SA, for resale, that was manufactured or sold by Defendants, any current or former subsidiary of Defendants, or any co-conspirator of Defendants.

The Indirect Purchaser States are California, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, and North Carolina.

Yes. Excluded from the Reseller Class are: (1) persons or entities who purchased SAs directly or not for the purposes of resale; (2) to the extent not already covered by (1), above, any OEM (as defined in FAQ 9); (3) Defendants, their parent companies, subsidiaries and affiliates, and any co-conspirators; (4) federal governmental entities or instrumentalities of the federal government, states and their subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities; and (5) the Court.

An OEM is an entity or person that either: (a) manufactures HDDs; or (b) manufactures larger products containing HDDs.

OEMs are excluded from the Reseller Class.

To the extent that an entity or person may qualify as a member of the Reseller Class for certain aspects of its business, but also qualifies as an OEM for other aspects of its business, that entity or person shall only be included as a member of the Reseller Class as to those aspects of its business that are not based on its activities as an OEM.

A Standalone Storage Device refers to both personal HDD and enterprise HDD storage systems. For purposes of noticing, an HDD is a data storage device that includes an SA (thus excluding solid state drives and flash memory drives) that stores digital information such as computer operating systems, applications, documents, pictures, and music. Personal HDDs include HDDs purchased for installation into computers, external and portable hard drives, and network attached storage (“NAS”) drives. Enterprise HDD storage systems are storage servers or storage arrays and generally are comprised of multiple HDDs.

If you are still not sure whether you are included in the Reseller Class, you may go to HDDSuspensionReseller.com or call toll-free at 1-877-377-1874.

You must decide whether to stay in the Reseller Class or ask to be excluded (and keep your right to sue Defendants in your own separate lawsuit).

You do not have to do anything now if you want to keep the possibility of getting money or benefits from this lawsuit in the future. By doing nothing you are staying in the Reseller Class and if the Reseller Plaintiffs obtain money or benefits in the future, you will be notified about how to get your share. If you do nothing now, you will not be able to sue or continue to sue Defendants—as part of any other lawsuit—about the same legal claims in this lawsuit. You will be legally bound by the orders and judgments. If you do nothing now and there is a settlement or judgment in the future, you may not be allowed to exclude yourself from the lawsuit.

If you want to sue Defendants on your own regarding the same legal claims in this lawsuit or already have your own lawsuit against Defendants regarding the same legal claims in this lawsuit and you want to continue with it, you need to ask to be excluded from the Reseller Class. If you exclude or remove yourself from the Reseller Class—sometimes called “opting out” of the class—you will not get any money or benefits from this lawsuit even if Reseller Plaintiffs win at trial or there is a settlement. However, you may be able to sue or continue to sue Defendants on your own. If you exclude yourself, you will not be legally bound by the Court’s judgments in this class action lawsuit.

If you start your own lawsuit or continue with an existing lawsuit against Defendants regarding the same legal claims in this lawsuit after you exclude yourself, you will have to hire your own lawyer(s) for that lawsuit, and you will have to prove your legal claims. If you exclude yourself so you can start or continue your own lawsuit against Defendants, you should talk to your own lawyer soon, because your legal claims may be subject to a statute of limitations, meaning you may face a deadline after which you cannot sue.

To exclude yourself or an entity you represent from the Reseller Class, you must mail a written request for exclusion, which includes the following:

1. Your name, address, telephone number, and email address (if any);
2. Your personal physical signature; and
3. A statement that you want, to be excluded from the Reseller Class, such as, “I hereby request to be excluded from the Reseller Class in In re: Hard Disk Drive Suspension Assemblies Antitrust Litigation.”

The exclusion request must be mailed to the Notice Administrator at the following address, and be postmarked by September 2, 2026:

You cannot opt out (exclude yourself or an entity) by telephone or by email.

“Mass” or “class” requests for exclusion filed by third parties on behalf of a “mass” or “class” of Reseller Class members or multiple Reseller Class members where the opt out hasn’t been signed by each individual Reseller Class member will not be allowed.

No. Unless you exclude yourself from the Resellers Class, you give up the right to sue Defendants for the legal claims that the lawsuit involves. If you have a pending lawsuit against any Defendant, speak to yow lawyer for that lawsuit immediately to determine whether you must exclude yourself from this lawsuit to continue your own lawsuit against Defendants. If there is a settlement or judgment in the future, you may not be allowed to exclude yourself from the lawsuit.

No. Unless you exclude yourself from the Reseller Class, you give up the right to sue Defendants for the legal claims that the lawsuit involves. If you have a pending lawsuit against any Defendant, speak to your lawyer for that lawsuit immediately to determine whether you must exclude yourself from this lawsuit to continue your own lawsuit against Defendants.

Yes, the Court has appointed Michael J. Flannery and Christian E. Hudson of Cuneo Gilbert Flannery & LaDuca LLP, and Shawn Raiter of Larson King. LLP as Class Counsel for the Reseller Class to represent you and the class for the purposes of this lawsuit. You may hire your own lawyer at your own cost and expense if you want someone other than Class Counsel to represent you in this lawsuit.

You do not need to hire your own lawyer because Class Counsel is working on your behalf. If you want your own lawyer, you can hire your own lawyer at your own expense. For example, you can ask them to appear in Court for you if you want someone other than Class Counsel to speak for you.

If Class Counsel gets money or benefits for the Reseller Class, they may ask the Court for an award of attorneys’ fees and expenses. You will not have to personally pay these attorneys’ fees and expenses. If the Court grants Class Counsels’ request, the attorneys’ fees and expenses will either be deducted from any money obtained for the Reseller Class or paid separately by Defendants.

Class Counsel will have to prove Reseller Plaintiffs’ legal claims at a trial. The trial has not been scheduled. During the trial, a Jury and the Judge will hear all the evidence to help them reach a decision about whether Reseller Plaintiffs or Defendants are right about the legal claims in the lawsuit. There is no guarantee that Reseller Plaintiffs will win, or that they will get any money for the Reseller Class.

No. You do not need to attend the trial. Class Counsel will present the case for the Reseller Plaintiffs and the Reseller Class, and lawyers for Defendants will present on their behalf. You or your own lawyer may attend at your own expense.

If the Reseller Plaintiffs obtain money or benefits because of the lawsuit, and you remain in the Reseller Class, you will be notified about how to participate to receive money or benefits. It is unknown how long this will take.

This Notice summarizes the lawsuit and the proceedings. You can get additional information by visiting www.HDDSuspensionReseller.com, by calling 1-877-307-1874 or by writing to:

You may also contact Class Counsel at the following addresses:

You may also access the Court docket in this lawsuit, for a fee, through the Court’s Public Access to Electronic Records (PACER) system at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov. To learn about PACER and register for a PACER account, go to https://www.Pacer.gov/. Once you have a PACER account, you can access and retrieve documents from the Court’s docket for the Action at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

You can also access and retrieve documents from the Court’s docket by visiting the office of the Clerk of the Court for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, 280 South 1st Street, San Jose. CA 95113, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Court holidays.

PLEASE DO NOT TELEPHONE THE COURT OR THE COURT CLERK’S OFFICE REGARDING THIS NOTICE.