In an effort to branch out from the spinning disc technology of its hard drives, Western Digital have announced that they have completed their acquisition of SanDisk.
In a deal costing Western Digital $17 billion in cash and shares, it puts the company in a great position to compete with companies like Samsung in the solid state memory market.
Whether you blame Windows 8 or Windows 10, PCs have seen a big drop in sales over the last few years. This has also meant that the traditional spinning hard drives we’ve used for years has also declined, as more and more users are switching to SSD or to tablets and other devices which use solely solid state storage.
It was clear Western Digital had to do something, which they now have, and it’s news that’s almost certainly going to divide opinion.
Personally, I’ve been a loyal customer of both Western Digital and SanDisk for well over a decade and never had a single issue with a product from either company. However, I also know people who dislike WD and SanDisk just as much as I like them and have had no end of problems with both.
Whether you love them or hate them, Western Digital’s acquisition of SanDisk and all their solid state technology does hold promise for some serious competition in large capacity SSD storage.
With Samsung pretty much alone at the top end of consumer SSD capacity and performance, the impending challenge to their dominance by Western Digital can only be a good thing. It will help to push the capacities of SSD drives further, as well as bring down their cost.
As a photographer, I’m curious to see how this may affect the future of products like the WD My Passport Wireless. With the device’s obvious connections to both desktop storage and mobile backup, it sits very much within a realm where it could benefit from a little SanDisk tech.
Is this a match made in heaven? Or has this acquisition now put you off buying products from one or both brands? Let us know what you think in the comments.
[via DPReview]
FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!