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This section provides an overview for hard disk drives as well as their applications and principles. Also, please take a look at the list of 9 hard disk drive manufacturers and their company rankings. Here are the top-ranked hard disk drive companies as of June, 2025: 1.KLA-Tencor Corp., 2.Beijing Guangtian Runze Technology Co., Ltd., 3.Broadcom.
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1993~2019: Engaged in pharmaceutical research and development and analysis of various biological samples at the Pharmaceutical Research Institute of Japan Kayaku Co., Ltd. He is also in charge of facility management as a dangerous goods handler and radiation handling chief.
2019: Moved to another company in the same industry and has been in charge of similar work until now.
He also writes, translates, and edits specialized books.
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/makoto-niwa-25331040/
Researchmap: https://researchmap.jp/0000-0002-2355-1222/
Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) are typical external storage devices. It is a non-volatile storage device that retains data even when the power is turned off.
The structure consists of multiple metal disks with magnetic materials stacked on top of each other. Data is read and written by rotating the disks at high speed and magnetizing the magnetic material by bringing a magnetic head close to it.
Since the magnetic head and disk are brought into close proximity when reading and writing data, the structure is vulnerable to vibration. Because of the large amount of data handled, high-speed
communication is required for the connection, and standards such as SCSI, IDE, and SATA are used. In the past, cables using SCSI and SATA standards were often used to connect external HDDs.
However, in recent years, as data transfer speeds have increased through USB connections, USB is increasingly being used to connect external HDDs.
Hard Disk Drives are often used as mass storage devices to store data on PCs. In addition to PCs, hard disks are also widely used in electronic devices such as external storage devices, servers, network drives, hard disk recorders in home appliances, and game consoles.
In recent years, as the capacity of SSDs have increased, they are increasingly taking on the role traditionally played by hard disk drives: HDDs use magnetic disks, while SSDs record data in NAND flash memory, which uses semiconductor elements.
The advantage of hard disk drives over SSDs is that large capacities can be procured at low cost. For this reason, SSDs are increasingly being used as storage devices for frequent read/write operations, while hard disk drives are being used as secondary data storage devices.
A hard disk generally consists of a disk, motor, magnetic head, and control circuit.
In a hard disk, a single disk is called a platter. The surface of the platter is coated with magnetic material, which is used to magnetically record data. In order to obtain the data capacity, multiple platters are generally stacked on top of each other.
Hard disks are equipped with motors to operate them. There are two types of motors: one is the motor that spins the platters. This is called a spindle motor. The faster this motor can rotate, the faster data can be read and written, so the number of revolutions is sometimes used as a performance indicator.
The other motor drives the arm that moves the magnetic head. The magnetic head is what reads and writes the data on the platters in a hard disk. Since there are multiple platters, magnetic heads are mounted according to the number of platters. The principle of writing data is to apply a magnetic force to the magnetic material on the platter surface using an electric current.
Which direction the magnetic force (the direction of the S and N poles of the magnet) is facing corresponds to the 0 and 1 information in the digital record. When reading, data is read based on the resistance value that changes under the influence of the magnetic field on the platters.
There are different points of focus for selecting an internal hard disk drive and an external HDD.
You may purchase an internal hard disk drive to build your own computer or to improve the performance of your desktop computer.
First, check the connection standard (IDE or SATA) of the environment in which you intend to build or replace the HDD, and choose one that fits.
Next, choose a disk size between 3.5" and 2.5". 3.5" is generally for standard desktop PCs, while 2.5" is for notebook PCs or space-saving desktop PCs. A 2.5" disk can also be installed by installing a mounter in the 3.5" space of a desktop PC.
Select the capacity that best suits the intended use. Unnecessarily large capacities will increase the cost.
The most common disk rotation speeds are 7,200 rpm and 5,400 rpm. The higher the speed, the faster data can be read and written, but it is also more expensive and generates more heat. It is advisable to select a disk drive based on the application and whether or not high speed read/write speed is required.
There are two types of external hard disk drives: stationary and portable. The stationary type is heavy and not suitable for carrying around, but inexpensive, while the portable type is lightweight and is designed to protect against shocks while being carried around.
The interface to be connected to an external hard disk drive is selected based on the device to be connected. Connection standards include USB, Thunderbolt, and eSATA, etc. Since the transmission speed of USB, etc. varies greatly from generation to generation, it is advisable to confirm the use in detail and select one that supports the expected transmission speed.
*Including some distributors, etc.
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KLA- Tencor Corporation was established in April 1997. Its main products are reticles, manufacturing chips, surface profilers, packaging, compound semiconductors, nano-chemical testers, and KT pro equipement. The company has 19 global locations with approximately 14000 global employees. It is a semiconductor manufacturing and related to nano-electronics company. They make research on electron, photon optics, data analytics, machine learning, and sensors. Consequently, they have produced precise optical tools, broadband plasma wafer inspectors, and butterfly effect detectors. It enables evolution acroess the automotive, data center and mobile industries.
Broadcom Inc., established in 1961, and headquartered in San Jose, California, is a manufacturer and supplier of semiconductor and connectivity solutions. The company specializes in producing products, such as semiconductors, infrastructure software, networking products, storage products, wireless products in which their products cater to industries such as telecommunications, data centers, and consumer electronics. Their products are used for various applications, including wireless communication, networking equipment, data storage, and multimedia devices, providing components for advanced technologies in numerous industrial and commercial sectors.
Western Digital, founded in San Jose, CA in 1986 is a manufacturer of data storage solutions such as USB Flash Drives, Memory Cards and Data Center Storage. The company's product portfolio includes Solid State Drives (SSDs), Hard Drives (HDDs), Network Attached Storage (NAS), Embedded Flash and Accessories. The company serves markets including Automotive and Electric Vehicles, Renewable Energy and Energy Storage and Electronics and IT Infrastructure. They also provide services such as equipment repair, instrumentation system upgrades, warranty service and technical support.
Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation is a division of Toshiba focusing on providing designs for end-product developers as well as semiconductor and drive equipment for automotive, industrial equipment, green energy, and consumer and personal electronic devices. Toshiba’s storage products include cloud-scale and enterprise-level products, and PC hard drives. Semiconductor products include Si Cower devices, MOSFETs, IGBTs, IEGTs, isolators, solid state relays, power management and intelligent power ICs, diodes, bipolar transistors, microcontrollers, automotive devices, ICs for wireless communication equipment, general purpose logic ICs, radio-frequency devices, sensors, and linear image sensors.
Seagate Technology Holdings plc, established in 1978 as Shugart Technology, is a manufacturer headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Fremont, California, United States, specializing in data storage solutions. The company offers cloud, edge, and data centers, encompassing data storage systems, enterprise drives, and edge-to-cloud mass storage platforms. Specialized drives such as gaming hard drives and solid-state drives (SSDs), network-attached storage (NAS) devices, video analytics hard drives, and both internal and external drives for personal storage are also part of the company’s portfolio. These offerings serve a range of industries including autonomous vehicles, media and entertainment, surveillance and security, and telecommunications.
Dell Inc. is an American developer and manufacturer of personal computers and related products established in Round Rock, Texas in 1984 as a business unit of Dell Technologies. The company primarily designs and produces various personal computers, including desktop, laptop, netbook, and tablet models. They also manufacture servers, storage devices, computer peripherals, and network switches to wide a range of specifications, including for large enterprises or competitive gaming. Dell, Inc. operates globally with more than 50 facilities, sales offices and distribution centers across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia.
Ranking as of June 2025
Derivation Method| Rank | Company | Click Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | KLA-Tencor Corp. |
31.3%
|
| 2 | Beijing Guangtian Runze Technology Co., Ltd. |
12.7%
|
| 3 | Broadcom |
10.8%
|
| 4 | Western Digital |
10.2%
|
| 5 | Dell Inc. |
9.0%
|
| 6 | Shenzhen Tengyatong Electronic Co., Ltd. |
8.4%
|
| 7 | Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage |
7.2%
|
| 8 | Seagate |
5.4%
|
| 9 | Master Fluid Solutions |
4.8%
|
Derivation Method
The ranking is calculated based on the click share within the hard disk drive page as of June 2025. Click share is defined as the total number of clicks for all companies during the period divided by the number of clicks for each company.Number of Employees
Newly Established Company
Company with a History
*Including some distributors, etc.
*Including some distributors, etc.
| Country | Number of Companies | Share (%) |
|---|---|---|
|
United States of America
|
3 | 75.0% |
|
Japan
|
1 | 25.0% |
