In late 2023, Western Digital revealed plans to split into two separate companies. One will keep the name Western Digital and focus on traditional hard drives. While these drives aren’t commonly used in consumer tech anymore, they’re still crucial for NAS devices and data centers. The second company, SanDisk, will take over solid-state drives (SSDs) like those sold under the Blue, Black, Green, and Red brands.
This split essentially reverses Western Digital’s $19 billion purchase of SanDisk from a decade ago. Now, we’re starting to see how this decision will impact their consumer products.
Today, SanDisk announced a major change. They are discontinuing the popular WD Blue and WD Black SSDs. Instead, these drives will be rebranded as SanDisk Optimus disks. For instance, the WD Blue drives will now be called “SanDisk Optimus” drives, starting with the Optimus 5100, which is essentially a rebranded WD Blue SN5100. Similarly, the mid-tier WD Black drives will become “SanDisk Optimus GX” drives, with the Optimus GX 7100 replacing the WD Black SN7100. The high-end WD Black drives will be rebranded as “SanDisk Optimus GX Pro” SSDs, with the Optimus GX Pro 850X and 8100 taking over for the WD Black SN850X and 8100 drives.
For the average user, the differences between these drives might not be noticeable. However, the underlying technology varies. The Blue/Optimus 5100 uses quad-level cell (QLC) flash memory, which is slower and less durable. In contrast, the Black/Optimus GX 7100 features triple-level cell (TLC) memory for better performance. The high-end Optimus GX Pro 8100 uses a PCIe 5.0 interface, which offers faster speeds than the PCIe 4.0 found in the other models. Additionally, the GX Pro has a dedicated DRAM cache, while the other models use a portion of system RAM for similar functionality.
According to industry experts, this split could help each brand focus better on their markets. As Dan Hotka, a technology analyst, notes, “Specializing can lead to innovation. Focusing resources on SSDs could help SanDisk push boundaries in speed and efficiency.”
Interestingly, consumer reactions are mixed. Some users on social media express concern that brand loyalty could fade with these changes. Others see it as a fresh opportunity for innovation.
This shift in branding and technology aligns with wider trends in the storage industry, where SSDs have seen rapid growth compared to traditional hard drives. According to a recent report by Statista, the market for SSDs is expected to grow significantly, reflecting the increasing demand for faster and more efficient data storage.
Overall, as Western Digital and SanDisk embark on their separate journeys, it will be interesting to see how these changes impact the tech landscape.
