Toshiba Electronics Europe GmbH (Toshiba) has identified the main trends that will shape the hard disk drive (HDD) market in 2025. These include the balance between capacity and cost, the adoption of staggered magnetic recording (SMR) technology and the HDD recycling.
In addition, the company highlights the impact of the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and video surveillance, the growing awareness of the importance of backup and the popularization of enterprise HDDs among gaming fans and professionals in the audiovisual sector.
“If CMR technology is like a 4-liter V8 engine with 300 horsepower and capable of driving everywhere, SMR technology is more like a 2.5-liter 4-cylinder turbo engine; “It is more compact and economical, but may have certain limitations in certain driving scenarios,” says Rainer W. Kaese, Senior Director of HDD Business Development at Toshiba Electronics Europe.
HDD Market Key Trends in 2025
- Capacity and cost: the essential balance. Hard drives have been a vital storage technology thanks to their ability to store large amounts of data economically. This attribute makes them a preferred option in various sectors, from data centers and cloud computing to video surveillance and gaming. Toshiba anticipates that in 2025, the strategic focus on profitable capacity improvements will continue to be crucial. Despite a temporary increase in SSD prices in 2024 due to demand for AI-enabled infrastructure, the long-term competitiveness of HDDs will depend on their ability to offer greater storage at a constant cost
- SMR technology: growing adoption. Another significant trend for 2025 is the adoption of stepped magnetic recording (SMR) technology. This technique allows you to increase storage density and capacity by partially overlapping data tracks. Toshiba believes SMR is ready for wider acceptance, especially for homogeneous workloads that write in large chunks. Meanwhile, conventional magnetic recording (CMR) technology will remain a specialized option for enterprise servers with different types of workloads. Rainer W. Kaese, senior director of HDD Business Development at Toshiba, compares the CMR technology to a 300-horsepower 4-liter V8 engine, while the SMR resembles a 2.5-liter 4-cylinder turbo engine, more compact and economical, but with certain limitations in specific scenarios
Toshiba identifies the balance between capacity and cost, SRM technology and recycling as key HDD market trends in 2025
- Recycling and environmental responsibility. Awareness of hard drive recycling is another key trend for 2025. With the large-scale decommissioning of the first cloud infrastructure installed in the second half of the last decade, a large wave of HDD material is expected that will need to be recycled. Toshiba highlights the importance of collaborating with appropriate recycling organizations and expects cloud service providers to prepare for a significant influx of HDD materials. According to Kaese, hard drives are easier to recycle than other electronic devices, as they contain few different metals and do not present complex toxic waste.
- Impact of AI and video surveillance on HDD storage. The advancement of artificial intelligence will also influence HDD storage in 2025. AI requires large data sets for analysis, increasing the demand for enterprise-level storage. From autonomous driving to smart factories and smart cities, AI will continue to drive the need for mass storage. Likewise, the expansion of video surveillance will continue to be a key driver for the HDD market. The sequential nature of video surveillance data and its overwriting make HDDs the preferred option for this type of storage
- Backup and business HDD in gaming and media. Awareness of the importance of backup is a trend that will continue to gain relevance in 2025. Toshiba reminds that it is not wise to rely solely on the cloud for data backup, and recommends using different backup methods. Additionally, while wireless connectivity to external hard drives has generated interest, Toshiba predicts that portable hard drives with a USB Type-C connector will become the expected standard. Finally, the company sees an unexpected trend: the popularization of high-capacity enterprise HDDs (16TB, 18TB or 20TB) among users who require substantial local storage, such as gaming enthusiasts and audiovisual professionals.
