Western Digital on Tuesday unveiled a roadmap for hard disk drives with capacities of more than 100TB and performance and power-optimization technologies at its Innovation Day 2026 event.

Western Digital said it has shifted to long-term customer partnerships based on multi-year contracts and more than doubled gross profit year on year. It joined the Nasdaq 100 last year and was named among the top-performing companies in the S&P 500.

It said its 40TB UltraSMR ePMR HDD, its highest-capacity drive, is in the validation stage at two hyperscale customers. It plans mass production in the second half of this year. HAMR HDDs are also under validation with two hyperscale customers, and the company will expand mass production from 2027. The company plans to expand ePMR capacity to 60TB and HAMR to 100TB by 2029. ePMR and HAMR are designed based on a common architecture.

It also showcased technologies to boost HDD performance. Its high-bandwidth drive technology allows multiple heads to read and write simultaneously across multiple tracks, delivering up to twice the bandwidth of existing HDDs. It can be expanded to up to an eightfold bandwidth improvement, and customer validation is under way, the company said.

Its dual-pivot technology adds a set of actuators that are independently driven on a separate pivot, lifting sequential IO performance by up to two times for a 3.5-inch drive. Combining the two technologies can raise sequential IO performance by up to four times. HDDs applying the dual-pivot technology are scheduled for release in 2028.

Its power-optimized HDD reduces power consumption to cut operating costs while maintaining a storage tier capable of sub-second access. It provides higher storage capacity and lower power use in exchange for cutting random IO performance to a minimum level. It is set to enter the customer validation stage in 2027.

WD CEO Irving Tan (어빙 탄) said, "Over the past year, WD has steadily accelerated the pace of innovation while focusing on execution, and as a result we have been able to reimagine HDDs to meet the standards AI demands." He added, "The innovations we are showcasing today demonstrate how we are responding to demand, built on close collaboration with customers, for storage capacity and scalability, quality and improved performance, as well as ease of technology adoption."