Western Digital to introduce 44TB HDDs by 2026, up to 100TB by 2030

Western Digital has unveiled its future roadmap for higher-capacity hard disk drives (HDD), eyeing to adopt a new technology called Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) in its drives by late 2026.

This move will enable the company to produce HDDs with capacities ranging from 80 terabytes (TB) to 100TB by 2030.

Western Digital will launch its first HAMR-based drives in 2026, offering 36TB using conventional magnetic recording (CMR) and 44TB with shingled UltraSMR recording. Cloud data center providers will test these drives before the company begins mass production in 2027.

Currently, two large cloud service providers are already testing the HAMR drives, although Western Digital hasn’t disclosed the drives’ capacity or specific technology.

Irving Tam, CEO of Western Digital, explained at the company’s investor call that they will begin with 36TB and 44TB models, and customer testing will wrap up by the end of 2026. Shipments will start in 2027.

Looking ahead, the company plans to further increase HDD capacities, with 80TB CMR drives and 100TB UltraSMR drives expected by 2030. These advancements will result from not only HAMR but also from technologies like OptiNAND, additional platters, and mechanical improvements.

By the end of the decade, HDDs will store more than twice as much data as current drives.

Initially, the company focused on Microwave-Assisted Magnetic Recording (MAMR) technology in 2017. However, by late 2021, it shifted its attention to HAMR after realizing its potential. The company has since made significant progress, launching 26TB CMR and 32TB UltraSMR drives using the new ePMR technology.

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