ers ▁Al ▁Sh ug art , ▁Tom ▁Mitchell , ▁Doug ▁Mah on , ▁Fin is ▁Con ner ▁and ▁Sy ed ▁I ft ik ar ▁in ▁October ▁ 1 9 7 9 . ▁The ▁company ▁came ▁into ▁being ▁when ▁Con ner ▁approached ▁Sh ug art ▁with ▁the ▁idea ▁of ▁starting ▁a ▁new ▁company ▁to ▁develop ▁ 5 . 2 5 - inch ▁H DD s ▁which ▁Con ner ▁predicted ▁would ▁be ▁a ▁coming ▁economic ▁bo om ▁in ▁the ▁disk ▁drive ▁market . ▁The ▁name ▁was ▁changed ▁to ▁Se ag ate ▁Technology ▁to ▁avoid ▁a ▁law suit ▁from ▁X ero x ' s ▁subs idi ary ▁Sh ug art ▁Associ ates ▁( also ▁founded ▁by ▁Sh ug art ). ▁ ▁Early ▁history ▁and ▁Tom ▁Mitchell ▁era ▁▁ ▁The ▁company ' s ▁first ▁product , ▁the ▁ 5 - m eg aby te ▁ST - 5 0 6 , ▁was ▁released ▁in ▁ 1 9 8 0 . ▁It ▁was ▁the ▁first ▁hard ▁disk ▁to ▁fit ▁the ▁ 5 . 2 5 - inch ▁form ▁factor ▁of ▁the ▁Sh ug art ▁" min i - f lo ppy " ▁drive . ▁It ▁used ▁a ▁Mod ified ▁Fre quency ▁Mod ulation ▁( M FM ) ▁encoding ▁and ▁was ▁later ▁released ▁in ▁a ▁ 1 0 - m eg aby te ▁version , ▁the ▁ST - 4 1 2 . ▁With ▁this ▁Se ag ate ▁secured ▁a ▁contract ▁as ▁a ▁major ▁O EM ▁supp lier ▁for ▁the ▁IBM ▁X T , ▁IBM ' s ▁first ▁personal ▁computer ▁to