WD pledges to make SMR/CMR hard disk choices clearer

[Spreadie]

The real issue is that WD were my go to manufacturer after having consecutive issues with Seagate but now with them owning each other and the drive you think you are getting not being the drive that you paid for it doesn’t leave the consumer in a good place.

Owning each other? They are separate companies. WD bought HGST (Hitachi's HDD arm) and SanDisk.

[LSG501]

Owning each other? They are separate companies. WD bought HGST (Hitachi's HDD arm) and SanDisk.

Probably meant owning the market meaning there no longer being any real alternatives. IIRC Toshiba bought the left over Hitachi stuff that WD didn't want but honestly I'm not sure I'd buy a toshiba drive even though in most cases they're pretty good price wise.

[Spreadie]

Probably meant owning the market meaning there no longer being any real alternatives. IIRC Toshiba bought the left over Hitachi stuff that WD didn't want but honestly I'm not sure I'd buy a toshiba drive even though in most cases they're pretty good price wise.

I thought Toshiba stepped in and bought out Fuji after it's stock fell off a cliff in the early noughties. Remember the (something like) 25% failure rates due to flaky controller chips?

[watercooled]

I can't remember the details exactly now but I think that while WDC wanted to buy Hitachi, there were competition concerns so part of Hitachi including some manufacturing facilities had to be sold to Toshiba (who already had a 2.5" business) to maintain three competitors in the market. Seagate had already bought Samsung's drive business so it would have meant going from four to just two remaining players in the 3.5" drive space. I'll post back with links if I find clarification.

Edit: That was easier to find than I expected: https://www.anandtech.com/show/5635/...hitachi-buyout

[LSG501]

I thought Toshiba stepped in and bought out Fuji after it's stock fell off a cliff in the early noughties. Remember the (something like) 25% failure rates due to flaky controller chips?

They may well have done but I'm not sure on that one, I just remember the more recent Toshiba/WD 'deal'.

[mtyson]

Class action law suit about this issue filed in US:

"Hattis Law has filed a lawsuit against Western Digital Corporation alleging that Western Digital secretly switched many of its hard drives, including its WD Red NAS hard drives, to inferior shingled magnetic recording (SMR) technology, deceiving and harming consumers."

[Output]

Class action law suit about this issue filed in US

They do love those class actions over there.

As always though, it will probably end with a settlement that sees a big pay day for the law firms, but almost nothing for anyone in the US who actually tries to claim.