Samsung Electronics will sell its hard-disk drive operations to Seagate Technology in a $1.375 billion deal.

One month after market leader Western Digital said it would buy Hitachi GST, Seagate’s deal with Samsung will allow it to maintain its position as the world’s second-largest maker of hard disk drives.

In addition to the transfer of the hard disk drive business, the two companies will expand an existing patent cross-licensing agreement and collaborate on development of enterprise storage systems.

Seagate said the deal will give it better access to potential customers in China and Southeast Asia, and a steady supply of flash memory chips for its expanding range of solid-state drives.

If both deals go through, the hard disk drive market will have just three players by the end of the year:

Western Digital, Seagate, and Toshiba.