Seagate celebrates a milestone-- the storage maker claims it is the first to ship 2 billion HDDs, a total fueled by demand from mobile applications, cloud infrastructures, social media and various consumer markets.
The company shipped 1 billion HDDs on April 2008 after 29 years of operation, and the second billion after just 4 years.
“This is truly an impressive accomplishment and I am proud to lead this company as we celebrate this success," Seagate CEO Steve Luczo says. "This achievement is a testament to the commitment of our employees whose relentless dedication and personal pride continue to be the fabric of this company.”
Key for the manufacture of so many drives are Seagate's China operations. Established back in 1995, over 1 billion HDDs were produced in China during Q4 2012 alone.
Storage demands are only set to grow further in the near future-- according to IDC global 2013 HDD shipments will reach 585 million units, with HDD terabyte shipments growing at a 30% CAGR for the 2012-2016 period.