Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells data storage devices for both consumer and enterprise-level use. The company's data storage solutions are marketed under the Western Digital, G-Technology, SanDisk, and WD brands. The company's reported 2021 revenue was $16.9 billion. Western Digital is headquartered in San Jose, California with sales and locations worldwide.

Western Digital Products

Products include internal and external hard disk drives, memory cards, USB Flash drives, solid-state drives (SSDs), and enterprise-level hard disk drives (HDDs) and SSDs. These products are used in computing devices, such as desktop and notebook personal computers (PCs), smart video systems, and gaming consoles. Enterprise-level products are used in corporate data storage and data center solutions.

Western Digital Capital is the strategic investment division of the company. They invest in innovative start-ups focused on improving how data is generated, saved, managed, and consumed. As part of their investment, they also provide consulting and networking to their portfolio companies.

Western Digital was founded on April 23, 1970, as General Digital, in Southern California by Alvin Phillips, a former Motorola employee. Around July 1971, the company changed its name to Western Digitial.

Western Digital started out selling calculator chips in the 1970s. In 1976, it entered the data storage industry with its first line of floppy disc controllers. In 1990, Western Digital collaborated with SanDisk (then SunDisk) to create the first commercial flash SSD. The partnership yielded patents for both SanDisk and Western Digital at that time, long before the two companies’ integration about twenty-five years later. Western Digital acquired SanDisk in 2016 for $16 billion.