As part of the quarterly report, Seagate CEO Dave Mosley confirmed the intent to start selling 20TB consumer HDDs in the second half of 2021. We are talking specifically about mass models that will use the perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) and tiled magnetic recording (SMR) technologies.
Seagate has been making 20TB + 3.5-inch HDDs based on Thermal Magnetic Recording (HAMR) technology for some time, which is not cheap and is available in limited quantities for huge enterprise customers. Now Seagate wants to expand the availability of 20 terabyte drives to the mainstream using the time-tested PMR and SMR technologies.
Seagate is also working on 20TB SMR drives for hyper-scale systems with custom software. Earlier this year, the manufacturer announced the expansion of HAMR drives with 22TB or 24TB models but did not specify what models they will be and when they will be released.
IDC predicts that global data will grow at 61% CAGR by 2025 will reach 175 zettabytes. And Seagate is actively working towards meeting demand – in March, the total capacity of hard drives shipped in the company’s history exceeded 3 zettabytes.