Hard Disk Drives (HDD)

Global Hard Disk Drives (HDD) Market to Reach US$51.7 Billion by 2030

The global market for Hard Disk Drives (HDD) estimated at US$38.2 Billion in the year 2024, is expected to reach US$51.7 Billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 5.2% over the analysis period 2024-2030. Internal HDD, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is expected to record a 4.1% CAGR and reach US$29.7 Billion by the end of the analysis period. Growth in the External HDD segment is estimated at 6.8% CAGR over the analysis period.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at US$10.4 Billion While China is Forecast to Grow at 8.0% CAGR

The Hard Disk Drives (HDD) market in the U.S. is estimated at US$10.4 Billion in the year 2024. China, the world`s second largest economy, is forecast to reach a projected market size of US$10.2 Billion by the year 2030 trailing a CAGR of 8.0% over the analysis period 2024-2030. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at a CAGR of 2.6% and 5.1% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 3.3% CAGR.

Global Hard Disk Drives (HDD) Market – Key Trends & Drivers Summarized

What Continues to Sustain the Relevance of HDDs in a Solid-State World?
Despite the growing dominance of solid-state drives (SSDs), hard disk drives (HDDs) continue to hold a critical position in the global data storage ecosystem. Their relevance lies in the high capacity-to-cost advantage they offer, making them indispensable for applications that require massive data storage at an economical price point. Enterprises managing large-scale archival systems, surveillance networks, and backup infrastructures still rely heavily on HDDs due to their affordability, long lifespan, and suitability for sequential data operations. HDDs are particularly dominant in cold storage and nearline storage solutions, where write-intensive performance is less critical than capacity and endurance.

Consumer markets—particularly in emerging economies—also continue to show strong demand for HDD-based storage, especially in desktop PCs, gaming consoles, external drives, and digital video recorders. The advent of 4K video, high-resolution content, and expansive gaming files has kept demand alive for high-capacity external HDDs. Furthermore, the growth of hybrid storage models, where HDDs are paired with SSDs to balance speed and storage capacity, reflects the continued integration of HDDs into modern computing environments. Their role as a low-cost storage workhorse is not fading, even as SSDs gain ground in speed-sensitive sectors.

How Are Technological Advancements Reinforcing the Viability of HDDs?
Continuous innovation in HDD technology is reinforcing its competitiveness, especially in enterprise-grade applications. Technologies like Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) and Microwave-Assisted Magnetic Recording (MAMR) are enabling significant increases in areal density, pushing the limits of how much data can be stored per platter. These advancements are crucial for meeting the growing storage requirements of hyperscale data centers, cloud service providers, and media repositories. The latest HDD models now exceed 20TB per drive, with roadmaps targeting 30TB and beyond in the next few years, ensuring HDDs remain viable for capacity-driven applications.

Mechanically, modern HDDs are becoming more reliable, energy-efficient, and environmentally resilient. Vibration control, helium-filled enclosures, dual actuators, and advanced caching algorithms are improving data integrity and operational efficiency. Manufacturers are also focusing on integrating AI-based diagnostics and self-monitoring tools to extend drive life and reduce downtime. These enhancements make enterprise-grade HDDs more competitive not only against SSDs but also as long-term infrastructure components in a world increasingly driven by data. As data creation from IoT devices, surveillance systems, and AI analytics soars, the push to maximize cost-efficient storage solutions continues to favor the evolution of HDDs.

Where Are HDDs in Demand, and What Segments Are Fueling Growth?
The most significant demand for HDDs currently comes from enterprise and cloud infrastructure providers. Hyperscale data centers run by tech giants and colocation service providers rely on HDDs for petabyte-scale storage solutions that can be deployed cost-effectively and maintained over long lifespans. These institutions often use HDDs for cold or archival storage tiers, where read/write performance is secondary to cost-per-gigabyte efficiency. Surveillance is another high-growth application, with expanding urban monitoring networks requiring continuous video capture and storage—often managed using high-capacity, write-optimized HDDs.

In the consumer space, external storage devices remain a stronghold for HDD manufacturers. Portable hard drives continue to be popular for media storage, offline backups, and file transfer, particularly in regions with limited cloud infrastructure. Gaming consoles—especially legacy and mid-range models—still utilize HDDs due to their favorable cost-performance balance. Small and medium-sized businesses also represent a key market, using HDDs in NAS (Network-Attached Storage) systems for local data management. Geographic growth is especially notable in Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and parts of Eastern Europe, where rapid digitalization and expanding middle classes are driving demand for affordable data storage.

The Growth in the Hard Disk Drives Market Is Driven by Several Factors
The growth in the HDD market is driven by several factors anchored in cost efficiency, scalability, and sector-specific storage demands. The rapid expansion of hyperscale data centers and cloud computing infrastructure is a major contributor, as these operators require high-capacity storage to manage ever-increasing data volumes cost-effectively. HDDs offer the lowest cost per terabyte among storage technologies, making them ideal for cold storage and data archival environments, where long-term reliability and density are more important than access speed.

Technological innovations such as HAMR, MAMR, and dual-actuator drives are extending the relevance of HDDs by pushing capacity thresholds higher, while maintaining competitive power efficiency and reliability standards. The continued demand from surveillance systems, content creation industries, and SMB data management further fuels market momentum. Meanwhile, in price-sensitive consumer markets, external HDDs remain the preferred solution for mass storage due to their affordability and ease of use. Together, these factors ensure that the HDD market, while evolving in scope and technology, remains a foundational segment in the global data storage landscape.

SCOPE OF STUDY:

The report analyzes the Hard Disk Drives (HDD) market in terms of units by the following Segments, and Geographic Regions/Countries:

Segments:
Type (Internal HDD, External HDD); Storage Capacity (Below 1TB, 1TB & Above); Application (Mobile, Consumer, Desktop, Enterprise, Near Line, Other Applications)

Geographic Regions/Countries:
World; United States; Canada; Japan; China; Europe (France; Germany; Italy; United Kingdom; Spain; Russia; and Rest of Europe); Asia-Pacific (Australia; India; South Korea; and Rest of Asia-Pacific); Latin America (Argentina; Brazil; Mexico; and Rest of Latin America); Middle East (Iran; Israel; Saudi Arabia; United Arab Emirates; and Rest of Middle East); and Africa.

Select Competitors (Total 43 Featured) -

• ADATA Technology Co., Ltd.
• ASUSTOR Inc.
• Buffalo Technology
• Dell Technologies Inc.
• Fujitsu Limited
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP
• Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST)
• Intel Corporation
• Kingston Technology Corporation
• LaCie (a Seagate Technology company)
• Lenovo Group Limited
• NetApp, Inc.
• QNAP Systems, Inc.
• Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
• SanDisk Corporation
• Seagate Technology Holdings PLC
• Silicon Power Computer & Communications Inc.
• Sony Corporation
• Toshiba Corporation
• Western Digital Corporation

TARIFF IMPACT FACTOR

Our new release incorporates impact of tariffs on geographical markets as we predict a shift in competitiveness of companies based on HQ country, manufacturing base, exports and imports (finished goods and OEM). This intricate and multifaceted market reality will impact competitors by artificially increasing the COGS, reducing profitability, reconfiguring supply chains, amongst other micro and macro market dynamics.

We are diligently following expert opinions of leading Chief Economists (14,949), Think Tanks (62), Trade & Industry bodies (171) worldwide, as they assess impact and address new market realities for their ecosystems. Experts and economists from every major country are tracked for their opinions on tariffs and how they will impact their countries.

We expect this chaos to play out over the next 2-3 months and a new world order is established with more clarity. We are tracking these developments on a real time basis.

As we release this report, U.S. Trade Representatives are pushing their counterparts in 183 countries for an early closure to bilateral tariff negotiations. Most of the major trading partners also have initiated trade agreements with other key trading nations, outside of those in the works with the United States. We are tracking such secondary fallouts as supply chains shift.

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APRIL 2025: NEGOTIATION PHASE

Our April release addresses the impact of tariffs on the overall global market and presents market adjustments by geography. Our trajectories are based on historic data and evolving market impacting factors.

JULY 2025 FINAL TARIFF RESET

Complimentary Update: Our clients will also receive a complimentary update in July after a final reset is announced between nations. The final updated version incorporates clearly defined Tariff Impact Analyses.

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