Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation (WDC), established in 1970 and based in California, USA, is a leading global producer of hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), mobile storage products, and data center storage solutions. The company markets its products under well-known brands like WD and SanDisk.

WDC has grown significantly through several key acquisitions: it purchased Hitachi Global Storage Technologies in 2011 for $4.3 billion, acquired SanDisk in 2016 for $16 billion while forming Tsinghua Unigroup Western Digital, and finalized the $18.3 billion acquisition of Toshiba’s semiconductor division in 2017. By 2019, Western Digital held the second-largest share of the global HDD market at 35.4% and ranked third in flash memory revenue, also earning a spot among the world’s 500 most valuable brands. In 2020, the company led the industry by developing 112-layer fifth-generation 3D NAND flash memory technology. Looking ahead, in 2025, Western Digital plans to divest its flash memory business to concentrate exclusively on the HDD sector.