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The next storage battleground: HAMR technology HDDs
Intevac has revealed that its HAMR (Thermally Assisted Magnetic Recording) HDD disc and read/write head production equipment – the 200 Lean – has received strong interest from a second customer. This news could mean that Western Digital (WD) is actively advancing the development of HAMR technology, following in the footsteps of Seagate into mass production.
HAMR is a key technology designed to increase the storage density of hard drives, dramatically increasing the capacity of individual hard drives by using laser-heated magnetic materials to achieve a tighter arrangement of data bits.
Extended reading:
Seagate has been developing this technology since the early 2000s, and in 2024 received general purpose certification from major cloud service providers for its Mozaic 3 HAMR drives. This marks the beginning of the market application of HAMR after more than 20 years of development.
The 200 Lean machines supplied by Intevac are the critical equipment necessary to manufacture the current Vertical Magnetic Recording (PMR) hard drives, on which more than 65% of the world’s HDD production depends. With the gradual acceptance of HAMR technology, Intevac has also refocused its business and expects to generate approximately $200 million in revenue from its HDD business over the next three years. CEO Nigel Hunton said the company is confident in the HAMR transformation of the HDD industry and has secured a second significant HAMR customer to complete the initial upgrade.
Although Western Digital mentioned in a recent conference call that HAMR technology will be introduced when each platter reaches 4TB capacity, according to the CEO of Intevac, WD is likely to begin the shift between late 2024 and early 2025. According to Hunton, WD’s announcement is very positive news for Intevac and shows that the industry as a whole is moving towards HAMR technology.
As the demand for data grows, especially in the data center and artificial intelligence sectors, HAMR technology is expected to be an important solution for high-capacity storage needs. The addition of WD will accelerate the adoption of HAMR technology across the market and may also intensify competition with Seagate. Considering WD’s market position and technology accumulation, it is well positioned to rapidly advance the commercialization of HAMR’s products.
