Toshiba is investing approximately ¥60 billion, or $380 million, to expand its hard disk drive manufacturing facility in the Philippines. This initiative marks the company's first significant investment in HDD production in five years, aiming to double output capacity for AI data center drives by the end of fiscal year 2027, which concludes in March 2028.
The expansion includes the installation of new production lines capable of increasing storage capacity per unit by up to 40%. Additionally, Toshiba is implementing automation in inspection and cleanroom processes, which is projected to reduce workforce requirements by approximately 40%.
To achieve future capacity goals, the company is utilizing Microwave-Assisted Magnetic Recording (MAMR) technology and a 12-disk stacking architecture. These methods are intended to support the mass production of 65TB-class drives by 2030, with plans for models exceeding 100TB to follow thereafter.
Toshiba currently holds a market share of slightly above 10% in the global HDD industry, which is dominated by Western Digital, Seagate, and Toshiba. The company intends to increase its share, measured by storage capacity, to 30% over the coming years, leveraging the cost advantage of HDDs, which are about 20 times cheaper per terabyte than SSDs.
