Toshiba to Invest $380 Million to Double HDD Capacity on AI Demand, Nikkei Reports

Japanese technology conglomerate Toshiba plans to double its production capacity for hard disk drives (HDDs) by fiscal 2027, responding to surging demand for high-capacity storage from artificial intelligence data centers, according to a report from Nikkei.

Expansion and Investment

Toshiba will invest approximately 60 billion yen ($380 million) to expand its HDD manufacturing facilities in the Philippines. This marks the company's first significant investment in its drive business in about five years, the report said.

The expansion will involve adding new production lines for drives that have up to 40% greater per-unit capacity. This investment is intended to support Toshiba's roadmap for mass-producing 65-terabyte-class HDDs by 2030, with an eventual goal of developing 100-terabyte-class products.

Market Strategy

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As one of the world's three largest HDD manufacturers, alongside U.S.-based Western Digital and Seagate, Toshiba is aiming to significantly increase its market footprint. The company's medium-term goal is to grow its market share by storage capacity from just over 10% to 30%, Nikkei reported.

Context for Investors

The move comes as the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure fuels unprecedented demand for data storage. While solid-state drives (SSDs) offer faster performance, high-capacity HDDs provide a more cost-effective solution for storing the vast quantities of data required for training and operating AI models.

By increasing its production capacity, Toshiba is positioning itself to capitalize on the sustained build-out of data centers globally, which increasingly rely on a mix of storage technologies to balance cost and performance.