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Western Digital Has Reportedly Bid Farewell To The SSD Market; SanDisk Will Now Be Responsible For Existing & Future Products
Western Digital has reportedly exited the SSD market, and will now focus only on manufacturing HDDs for the AI segment, marking the end of an era.
It seems like the storage industry isn't having a great time in terms of gaining traction in the consumer markets, since after Solidigm, Western Digital, one of the leading SSD manufacturers, has decided to exit the industry. According to a report by TechSpot, Western Digital will now focus solely on its native hard disk technology, with the SSD division being spun off into SanDisk. This means that lineups like WD_BLACK will now be manufactured by SanDisk & existing WD SSDs RMA will be handled by SanDisk instead of WD themselves, and this will ultimately mean that Western Digital branding won't be there anymore.
This is indeed a surprising development, especially for consumers who are fond of Western Digital's SSD products. WD has been included alongside names like Samsung and Crucial when it comes to offering high-end SSDs with blazing-fast speeds, so seeing the brand fade away is something we weren't expecting at all. However, this doesn't mean that WD products will disappear from the markets; rather, they will be taken care of by SanDisk, so we do expect the quality to remain consistent.
While the reason behind Western Digital's decision is uncertain for now, the company is said to see a brighter future in the HDD markets, particularly those needed for AI workloads. In a blog post released a few weeks ago, WD's CEO Irving Tan claimed that HDD shipments are expected to see an uptrend due to the demand from the market, and that is where the firm will concentrate on moving into the future. So, it is safe to say that Western Digital won't be in the SSD markets, at least until the AI hype lasts.
The production of SSDs is expected to continue without significant disruption. Western Digital had been utilizing Kioxia's (formerly Toshiba) manufacturing facilities for NAND production, and this arrangement could continue under SanDisk's management. Alternatively, SanDisk may partner with other manufacturers, such as Samsung, to meet production needs.
For the average consumer, given that operations are now under SanDisk, we expect the firm to deal with supply chain aspects, including after-sale services. SSDs from WD will now see a change in their naming scheme, apparently from "WD" to "SD," which is indeed interesting. The industry will be watching to see how SanDisk brands its SSDs moving forward, given that simply replacing 'WD' with 'SD' could lead to confusion with SD cards used in cameras and handheld devices. Overall, it is safe to say that Western Digital did serve us well.
Source: https://wccftech.com/western-digital-has-reportedly-bid-farewell-to-the-ssd-market/
Now I have to check for SanDisk Service Centre when ever I need to send my WD SSD for RMA.
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