Editing Hard disk drive (section)

=== 21st century ===
HDD improvements have been driven by increasing [[Density (computer storage)|areal density]], listed in the table above. Applications expanded through the 2000s, from the [[mainframe computer]]s of the late 1950s to most [[mass storage]] applications including computers and consumer applications such as storage of entertainment content.

In the 2000s and 2010s, NAND began supplanting HDDs in applications requiring portability or high performance. NAND performance is improving faster than HDDs, and applications for HDDs are eroding. In 2018, the largest hard drive had a capacity of 15&nbsp;TB, while the largest capacity SSD had a capacity of 100&nbsp;TB.<ref name= "100TB 2018"/> In 2018, HDDs were forecast to reach 100&nbsp;TB capacities around 2025 (but so far in 2025 the reality is far off),<ref>{{cite web|last=Mott |first=Nathaniel |url=http://tomshardware.com/news/seagate-hamr-100tb-drives-2025,38035.html |title=Seagate Wants to Ship 100TB HDDs by 2025 |work=Tomshardware.com |date=November 7, 2018 |access-date=February 20, 2019}}</ref> but {{as of|2019|lc=on}}, the expected pace of improvement was pared back to 50&nbsp;TB by 2026.<ref name= "blocks WWrevenue August2019" >{{cite web |url= https://blocksandfiles.com/2019/09/23/seagate-assumes-ssds-wont-kill-disk-drives/ |title= How long before SSDs replace nearline disk drives? |last= Mellor |first= Chris |date= September 23, 2019 |quote= the total addressable market for disk drives will grow from $21.8bn in 2019 |access-date= November 15, 2019 }}</ref> Smaller form factors, 1.8-inches and below, were discontinued around 2010. The cost of solid-state storage (NAND), represented by [[Moore's law]], is improving faster than HDDs. NAND has a higher [[price elasticity of demand]] than HDDs, and this drives market growth.<ref name= Appleton >{{cite web |url= https://www.cnet.com/news/flash-goes-the-notebook/ |title= Flash goes the notebook |last= Kanellos |first= Michael |date= January 17, 2006 |website= CNET |access-date= May 15, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180519203122/https://www.cnet.com/news/flash-goes-the-notebook/ |archive-date= May 19, 2018 |url-status= live }}</ref> During the late 2000s and 2010s, the [[Marketing#Product life cycle|product life cycle]] of HDDs entered a mature phase, and slowing sales may indicate the onset of the declining phase.<ref name= lifecycle >{{cite web |url= https://www.inc.com/encyclopedia/industry-life-cycle.html |title= Industry Life Cycle - Encyclopedia - Business Terms |work= Inc. |access-date= May 15, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180708234048/https://www.inc.com/encyclopedia/industry-life-cycle.html |archive-date= July 8, 2018 |url-status= live }}</ref>

The [[2011&nbsp;Thailand floods]] damaged the manufacturing plants and impacted hard disk drive cost adversely between 2011 and 2013.<ref>{{cite web
 | url = https://blog.backblaze.com/2012/10/09/backblaze_drive_farming/
 | title = Farming hard drives: how Backblaze weathered the Thailand drive crisis
 | year = 2013
 | access-date = May 23, 2014
 | website = blaze.com
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140625060029/http://blog.backblaze.com/2012/10/09/backblaze_drive_farming/
 | archive-date = June 25, 2014
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref>

In 2019, [[Western Digital]] closed its last Malaysian HDD factory due to decreasing demand, to focus on SSD production.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theregister.com/2018/07/17/western_digital_petaling_jaya_malaysia/ |title=Western Digital formats hard disk drive factory as demand spins down |work=The Register |last=Mellor |first=Chris |date=July 17, 2018 |access-date=July 21, 2021}}</ref> All three remaining HDD manufacturers have had decreasing demand for their HDDs since 2014.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.extremetech.com/computing/273849-western-digital-to-close-hdd-plant-increase-ssd-production |title=Western Digital to Close HDD Plant, Increase SSD Production |work=extremetech.com |last=Hruska |first=Joel |date=July 20, 2018 |access-date=July 21, 2021 }}</ref>