Could Seagate be preparing a merger?

optionMonster comments that these changes are "not likely to have been caused by a product release." That leaves the option that Seagate is considering a "takeover candidate." The research site doesn't speculate on who the potential buyer or buyout candidate might be, but only a handful of major players remain in the mechanical storage market: Western Digital, Hitachi, Samsung, and Toshiba (which recently took Fujitsu's storage division under its wing).