Artificial intelligence (AI) may grab the headlines, but the quieter money in this cycle has been flowing into the infrastructure that keeps AI running. Models can only scale if data can be stored, accessed, protected, and moved efficiently. In 2025, that reality showed up clearly in market performance, as data storage emerged as one of the strongest themes tied to the global data center buildout. Well-known names set the pace. Sandisk (SNDK) delivered a historic run, turning into the S&P 500 Index’s ($S ...

Data centers emerging as a step-function demand vector Hyperscalers are moving quickly from "evaluating" to "engineering in" BESS for firming, load flexibility, and diesel-replacement. WoodMac's 34GW across 12 U.S. data-center sites (~14% attachment on a 245GW pipeline) is not in our base case, but represents ~one-third of our 2026–30 FTM demand, making it the largest potential upside swing factor in U.S. storage. We raise our PO on Fluence (Neutral) to $25 from $17 on our revised valuation methodology (upd ...

Summary of the Conference Call on HDD & SSD Shipment Volumes Industry Overview - The conference focused on the electronic components industry in Japan, specifically the HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and SSD (Solid State Drive) markets for data centers (DCs) [1][2] Key Points Shipment Volumes - Shipment volumes of NL HDDs and Enterprise SSDs for data centers have shown a recovery after bottoming out in Q3 2023, with NL HDDs at 8.95 million units and Enterprise SSDs at 9.0 million units [3] - Projections indicate a rise to 16.53 million units for NL HDDs and 14.2 million for Enterprise SSDs in Q4 2024, followed by a slight decline in Q1 2025 [3] - For 2025, NL HDD shipments are expected to reach 66.58 million units (+13.7% YoY) and Enterprise SSDs to 54.20 million units (+8.4% YoY) [4] Production and Capacity - The total shipment volume for NL HDDs is projected at 1,349 Exabytes (EB) in 2025 (+28.9% YoY) and 195 EB for Enterprise SSDs (+17.8% YoY) [4] - The average capacity per NL HDD is expected to increase by 15.6% to 20.70TB in 2025, driven by advancements in recording density technologies [4] Market Dynamics - The GB cost for Enterprise SSDs is projected to be 7.9 times higher than NL HDDs in 2025, indicating a continued segmentation in usage based on cost and access speeds [12] - WDC (Western Digital Corporation) is expected to gain market share in NL HDDs, with projections of 46.3% market share in 2025, up from 39.2% in 2023 [13] Bottlenecks and Challenges - The bottleneck in increasing NL HDD output is attributed to testing capacity limitations and shortages in media and head supplies [14] - The transition to higher capacity HDDs (24-26TB) is pushing the limits of existing testing tools, complicating production ramp-up [14] SSD Shipments by Application - SSD shipments for various applications are showing growth, with Enterprise SSDs expected to grow by 11.3% YoY and PC SSDs by 8.1% YoY [15] - The total SSD shipment volume is projected to reach 32.61 million units, reflecting a 10.2% YoY increase [15] Additional Insights - The production volume of HDD heads has not kept pace with the demand, with a significant drop from the peak in 2021 [14] - The market is expected to see a mild growth in average unit prices for NL HDDs due to balanced supply and demand conditions [14] This summary encapsulates the key insights from the conference call regarding the HDD and SSD markets, highlighting trends in shipment volumes, production capacity, market dynamics, and challenges faced by the industry.