Seagate Technology Forecasts Growth in AI-Driven Storage Demand with Expansion of HAMR Drives
Seagate Technology is experiencing increased demand for storage driven by artificial intelligence infrastructure, particularly from hyperscalers and enterprises. The company's heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) technology is central to its strategy for capacity expansion, enabling higher-capacity drives that support long-term data growth in applications like video AI, robotics, and autonomous driving. Seagate currently offers 30TB HAMR drives broadly and has begun selling 40TB versions to two major hyperscalers. A 50TB product is expected by late 2027, with the company projecting that HAMR will account for 80%–90% of data-center storage volume in a few years. Strong order demand, pricing discipline, and supply management are contributing to improved revenue and gross margins above 70%, supporting Seagate's financial strategy focused on debt reduction before increasing share repurchases or dividends. CFO Gianluca Romano emphasized that AI investment is still in its early stages but will drive long-term storage needs. The company’s focus remains on exabyte shipment growth through higher-capacity drives rather than increased unit production, leveraging industry discipline to maintain supply-demand balance.
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Topics: AI infrastructure HAMR technology Seagate growth strategy storage demand