Toshiba to Double Hard Drive Production Capacity for Data Center Demand

Toshiba has launched a huge investment that will double its hard disk production capacity to meet increasing data center demand.

Toshiba is preparing to significantly increase its hard disk production capacity in order to respond to the increasing storage needs of artificial intelligence and data centers. The company is making an investment of approximately 60 billion yen, or approximately $380 million, to expand its production facility in the Philippines.

This investment includes Toshiba adding new production lines to the LTI facility in Laguna Technopark. While nearline HDDs are being produced on new lines, the infrastructure for the production of the company's new generation high-capacity hard disks is also being prepared.

Production Capacity and New Technologies

Toshiba aims to increase storage capacity per disk by up to 40 percent with new generation HDDs. It is stated that this increase refers to the company's M12 series HDDs using MAMR, i.e. Microwave Assisted Magnetic Recording technology.

These models, which can accommodate up to 11 plates, are expected to offer a capacity of over 30 TB. While the installation of new production lines is being completed, the start of the first shipments from these lines shows that the company has increased its production speed.

The company will also significantly increase the level of automation in its production facility. Using greater automation in clean room operations and HDD inspection processes will help increase production efficiency.

This automation move will reduce the need for additional personnel by approximately 40 percent. The investment in question is also important as it is Toshiba's first major HDD production investment in approximately five years.

In particular, the rapid growth of artificial intelligence infrastructures has seriously increased the demand for high-capacity nearline HDDs in data centers. While Seagate and Western Digital have increased their production thanks to the strong demand for HDDs in the 30 TB and 40 TB classes, Toshiba has been left behind with its current capacity.

The company is still competing with models in the 24 TB CMR and 28 TB SMR class. Despite this, it is stated that Toshiba has sold all of the HDDs it produced in recent quarters.

Future Goals and Market Share

Toshiba's production investment will not be limited to 30 TB class HDDs. The company had previously announced plans to develop 40TB class HDDs containing up to 12 platters in 2027.

However, 2027 is expected to focus on increasing production of the M12 series, especially in the 30 TB class. Toshiba's long-term plan includes much higher capacity hard drives.

The company aims to start mass production of 65 TB class HDDs around 2030. After this, it is planned to develop models reaching the 100 TB capacity class.

These disks are expected to serve the rapidly growing storage needs of large-scale data centers, especially artificial intelligence. Toshiba's investment will be one of the important parts of this long-term road map.

The company also aims to increase its share in the HDD market by increasing its production capacity. It is reported that Toshiba's current market share on an exabyte basis is approximately 10 percent, and the company aims to increase this rate to 30 percent in the medium term.

Do you think high-capacity HDDs are still the most logical solution for data centers at a time when SSDs are becoming widespread?