Overview
- A 40TB UltraSMR drive is slated to ship in the second half of 2026, with HAMR-based HDDs targeted for mass production in 2027 following hyperscaler qualification.
- Western Digital will extend ePMR to 60TB and keep ePMR and HAMR products in parallel, with next‑generation ePMR said to leverage HAMR innovations without higher power use.
- Sequential throughput is projected to double in the near term and increase up to 8x over the next decade, potentially exceeding 2GB/s, with multi‑head/channel designs and dual actuators planned around 2027–2028 to reduce seek time.
- The roadmap aims for 100TB HAMR drives by 2029, with gains coming from higher areal density and increased platter counts as the technology matures.
- No commitments were made on random access latency improvements, and Western Digital frames these HDDs as a cost‑ and energy‑efficient option for AI‑scale storage, touting roughly 20% lower power.