Toshiba HDD capacity to nearly double by FY2027
Toshiba's Philippine subsidiary aims to nearly double its annual hard drive production capacity by FY2027 compared with FY2025, counted by total storage capacity. It is not a promise to build twice as many drives. Moving production to higher-capacity drives raises the total even when unit output grows less.
The subsidiary is Toshiba Information Equipment (Philippines), or TIP. Its Laguna Technopark site mostly built PC drives until recently.
The site now also builds nearline HDDs, the high-capacity drives data centers use to store large amounts of data. Until now those drives came only from TIP's Carmelray Industrial Park site.
TIP shipped the first drives from the new line on October 2, 2026, the same day it marked 30 years in the Philippines. Nikkei Asia reported that Toshiba spent about ¥60 billion ($380 million) on the expansion. Nikkei also said Toshiba wants to lift its share of exabytes shipped from about 10% to 30% over the medium term.
"At its Laguna Technopark ("LTI") facility, the company recently began manufacturing nearline hard disk drives ("nearline HDDs"), expanding production beyond its Carmelray Industrial Park facility, and made the first shipment of products manufactured on the newly expanded production line. Nearline HDDs are high-capacity data center HDDs designed to support AI and cloud workloads."／"TIP will continue to invest in production expansion, aiming to nearly double its annual production capacity by FY2027 compared with FY2025 on a storage capacity basis."（press release）— Toshiba Electronic Devices & StorageView official source →
"Toshiba has spent approximately ¥60 billion ($380 million) to expand its hard drive assembly capacity in the Philippines, doubling its production capacity for nearline HDDs in fiscal 2027 compared to fiscal 2025, reports"／"Toshiba also expects the new production lines and next-generation HDDs to help it increase its market share from around 10% today, measured by exabytes shipped, to 30% in the 'medium term,' according to the report."（article body）— Tom's HardwareView official source →
Why Western Digital stock and Seagate stock fell about 10%
Western Digital and Seagate stock each closed about 10% lower on October 2, 2026, the day Nikkei Asia reported Toshiba's expansion. Early reports gave drops anywhere from 7% to 11%. Nasdaq's closing prices put both at about 10%.
WDC stock and Seagate stock at the October 2 close
Western Digital closed at $415.29, down 10.22% from $462.56, and Seagate closed at $848.99, down 10.21% from $945.57. The two drops were almost identical.
| Stock | October 1 close | October 2 close | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Western Digital (WDC) | $462.56 | $415.29 | −10.22% |
| Seagate (STX) | $945.57 | $848.99 | −10.21% |
Western Digital stock and Seagate stock on October 5 and 6
Both stocks recovered part of the loss on Monday, October 5. Western Digital closed at $441.64, up 6.34%, and Seagate closed at $887.09, up 4.49%.
The rebound did not last. On October 6, Western Digital closed at $411.04 and Seagate at $805.63, both below their October 2 closes.
Why there is a nearline HDD shortage
Nearline HDD demand from AI and cloud data centers is outrunning production, and Tom's Hardware reports that Toshiba has sold every drive it built in recent quarters. Toshiba's own release ties the expansion to growing global demand for data center storage driven by AI and cloud services.
Seagate sees the same pull. In its July 2026 earnings release, CEO Dave Mosley said AI is speeding up how fast data is created, which keeps demand for mass capacity storage high.
Memory costs are rising across AI hardware too. Nvidia's AI server price increase in August came from memory costs, as covered in Nvidia Price Increase: AI Servers Up More Than 15%.
"While Toshiba is lagging with 24TB CMR and 28TB SMR hard drives, it has also sold out every single unit it has produced in recent quarters."（article body）— Tom's HardwareView official source →
"As AI accelerates data generation and its value, we see durable long-term demand for mass capacity storage."（press release）— Seagate, SEC filingView official source →
Largest hard drive roadmap: HDD capacity of 65TB, then 100TB
Nikkei Asia reported that Toshiba plans to start volume production of 65TB-class drives around 2030 and move to 100TB-class drives after that. The new Laguna lines are also being prepared for next-generation drives that hold up to 40% more per unit. Neither plan appears in Toshiba's own release.
Toshiba's largest announced product today is the M12 series. Sampling of the SMR models, at 30 to 34TB, began at the end of March 2026.
In March, Toshiba also said CMR models of up to 28TB would start sampling in the July to September 2026 quarter. The M12 drives fit 11 disks inside, one more than the previous generation.
"As part of the expansion, Toshiba has installed additional manufacturing lines at its Philippine Laguna Technopark (LTI) facility to build nearline hard drives and prepare it to produce next-generation HDDs that increase storage capacity per drive by as much as 40%."／"The company intends to continue investing in manufacturing capabilities to begin volume production of 65TB-class HDDs around 2030, followed eventually by 100TB-class drives, according to the report."（article body）— Tom's HardwareView official source →
Summary: Toshiba HDD capacity and the hard drive shortage
Toshiba's official commitment is a near doubling of annual hard drive capacity by FY2027, measured in storage capacity rather than drive count. The ¥60 billion figure, the 30% share goal and the 65TB and 100TB plans come from Nikkei Asia's reporting.
Western Digital and Seagate stock both closed about 10% lower on October 2, bounced on October 5 and fell again on October 6. Tom's Hardware reports that Toshiba's nearline drives are still selling out as fast as they are built.
FAQ
- Is Toshiba doubling the number of hard drives it makes?
- Not exactly. Toshiba's target is to nearly double annual production capacity by FY2027 compared with FY2025, measured in total storage capacity. Shifting to larger drives raises total capacity even if the number of drives grows less.
- Where is Toshiba expanding hard drive production?
- At TIP's Laguna Technopark plant in the Philippines. The site mostly built PC drives before and now also makes nearline HDDs for data centers, adding to output from TIP's Carmelray Industrial Park plant.
- Did Toshiba announce 65TB and 100TB hard drives?
- No. The 65TB-class and 100TB-class plans come from Nikkei's reporting, which said Toshiba aims for 65TB-class volume production around 2030. Toshiba's own releases go up to the 34TB M12 series samples.
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