Western Digital announced it is repositioning itself for what it calls the AI-driven data economy, including a corporate rebrand to WD and a set of product and platform announcements aimed at raising hard drive capacity, improving performance for AI workloads, and reducing power consumption at scale. The company presented the updates at its Innovation Day 2026 event.
WD’s roadmap emphasizes two overlapping technology paths, ePMR and HAMR, that the company says are built on a common architecture to enable smoother transitions and more predictable capacity planning for customers. WD said its 40TB UltraSMR ePMR hard drive, described as the world’s highest capacity, is currently in hyperscale qualification, with volume production planned for the second half of 2026. WD also said HAMR qualification is underway with hyperscale customers, with ramp production planned for 2027 and capacities scaling to 100TB by 2029. WD added that it plans to extend ePMR to 60TB by leveraging HAMR innovations without increasing power consumption.
On performance, WD introduced two technologies it said are intended to reset HDD performance for AI workloads and address use cases previously viewed as flash-only. The company said its High Bandwidth Drive Technology enables simultaneous reading and writing from multiple heads on multiple tracks, delivering up to 2x the bandwidth of conventional HDDs without power penalties, with a path to scale to up to 8x bandwidth gains. WD said this technology is already with customers for validation. WD also introduced Dual Pivot Technology, which it said adds a second set of independently operating actuators on a separate pivot to deliver up to 2x sequential I/O gain within a 3.5-inch drive, and that drives using Dual Pivot Technology are expected to be available in 2028. WD said that, combined, High Bandwidth Drive Technology and Dual Pivot Technology are expected to enable up to 4x overall sequential I/O while maintaining relative I/O per terabyte as capacity rises, reducing the need for customers to increase SSD deployment or rearchitect services as HDD capacity scales.
WD also detailed a power-optimized hard drive initiative aimed at what it described as a growing tier of AI data that must remain accessible quickly but is too expensive for traditional warm-tier flash storage. The company said its power-optimized HDDs are expected to deliver 20% less power consumption, trading minimal random I/O for higher capacity and substantially lower power in a 3.5-inch form factor. WD said these drives are expected to enter customer qualification in 2027.
Beyond devices, WD said it is expanding its Platforms business to extend hyperscale-style storage economics to a broader set of mid-scale customers. The company said it is developing an intelligent software layer through an open API, expected to launch in 2027, designed to help companies operating at 200-plus petabyte scale improve storage efficiency, accelerate adoption across UltraSMR, ePMR, flash, and HAMR platforms, and reduce time-to-production and qualification risk without requiring architectural disruption.
WD framed the announcements as a continuation of a broader business shift it said it completed over the past year, including moving to longer-term customer partnerships based on multi-year commitments, operational improvements that it said more than doubled gross profit year over year, and leadership changes intended to speed decision-making. The company also said that about 90% of its revenue is driven by AI and cloud, and it highlighted inclusion in the Nasdaq 100 and a ranking among top S&P 500 performers in 2025. WD said it also shared a refreshed financial model reflecting its view for the next three to five years.
KEY QUOTES
“For the past year, WD has remained continuously focused on execution and accelerating innovation, which has enabled us to truly reimagine the hard drive to meet the requirements of AI. Today, we are showcasing innovation that reflects our deep connection to our customers and how we are meeting demand for capacity, scale, quality, enhanced performance, and ease of technology adoption.”
Irving Tan, Chief Executive Officer, WD
“WD Innovation Day is where our customer-centric business transformation meets our breakthrough technology for the AI era. We’ve organized around how customers build and scale AI infrastructure. WD is challenging conventional storage assumptions and removing the complexity and cost barriers that limit their AI-driven growth. Our capacity, performance, power eMiciency, and platform innovations are solidifying our position as the innovation partner for the AI-driven data economy.”
Ahmed Shihab, Chief Product Officer, WD
“WD’s Innovation Day revealed a company that has genuinely transformed its strategy around customer infrastructure needs. The market validation is already evident – customers are deploying these solutions because WD is solving what matters most for AI infrastructure: reliable capacity at scale, performance that meets demanding workloads, and economics that enable profitability. This customer-centric approach, combined with operational discipline positions WD well in the market going forward.”
Ed Burns, HDD Research Director, IDC
