After Western Digital announced plans to separate its HDD and flash businesses in 2023, that plan now appears to have become a reality, with the storage giant splitting its business into two different brands.
Although we knew the move was coming, the timing is interesting as WD only recently released an 8TB SSD as part of the WD Black SN850X series, joining the existing 1TB, 2TB and 4TB models in the range.
In an announcement, the company explains to customers: “We now operate as two specialized websites: WesternDigital.com for HDDs and platforms, and SanDisk.com for flash technology, including SSDs, memory cards, USB flash drives and more.”
What does it mean for buyers?
The company added that the creation of separate websites is designed to “better position each franchise to execute innovative technology and product development, take advantage of unique growth opportunities, expand respective market leadership positions and operate more efficiently with different capital structures.”
In March 2024, Western Digital provided additional information on the rationale for the split, which essentially boils down to “creating shareholder value and driving long-term success for its businesses.”
Western Digital CEO David Goeckeler said at the time that the split was “a highly complex transaction involving more than a dozen countries and spanning consumer data storage technology brands, professional content creators, the world’s leading device OEMs and the largest cloud storage companies. providers.”
Now that the split is complete, what will this mean for customers? The company says: “On WesternDigital.com you can shop for all HDD and platform products from the following brands: Western Digital, WD, WD_BLACK and SanDisk Professional. At SanDisk.com you can shop for all flash products such as SSDs, memory cards and USB flash drives from the following brands: Western Digital, WD, WD_BLACK, SanDisk and SanDisk Professional.”
Naturally, this will have consequences for customers. If you have a Western Digital discount code, you can only use it to purchase products on the WD site. The reverse is true for customers with SanDisk codes.