At Innovation Day 2026, Western Digital unveiled a fresh, customer-focused storage blueprint designed to cater to the burgeoning needs of AI by revolutionizing HDD technology, thereby cementing its stance in the AI-propelled data economy. Not only did the company wrap up a sequence of strategic endeavors, but it also rebranded itself as WD and rolled out a novel brand identity.

From a technological innovation standpoint, Western Digital boosted storage capacity via two technological routes: ePMR and HAMR. It plans to commence mass production of 40TB UltraSMR ePMR HDDs in the latter half of 2026, escalate HAMR HDD manufacturing in 2027, and attain a groundbreaking 100TB capacity using HAMR technology by 2029.

Regarding performance enhancements, the company introduced high-bandwidth hard drive technology alongside dual-pivot technology, amplifying the overall sequential IO performance of hard drives by fourfold. Power-efficient HDDs are slated to reach customer certification phases in 2027. Moreover, Western Digital is set to craft an intelligent software layer, with its launch penciled in for 2027.

Company leaders and industry experts have voiced their endorsement for these groundbreaking accomplishments and strategic metamorphoses.