By Kim Yoo-chul
Western Digital will cut its reliance on the looming conventional hard disk drive (HDD) business by massively shifting its focus toward cloud solutions, the company said Thursday.
It is the world's top-tier manufacturer of electronic storage products or personal storage and enterprise.
At a news conference in Seoul, the NASDAQ-listed company released its latest cloud computing solution, dubbed "My Cloud." The device is no bigger than the average external HDD, easy to install and makes less noise.
"The market for personal cloud-computing solutions is expected to fully take off this year. The device will help us expand our territories in the lucrative and promising cloud-computing business segment, said Cho Won-seok, country manager at Western Digital.
According to the executive, rising demand for smartphones and other data-intensive devices, including tablets, is calling for a shift toward cloud-based computing systems.
"It's fair to say that consumers want to find devices that can store more data. We are seeing increased demand for personal cloud from the United States and Europe," the manager Cho said.
Gartner, a market research firm, expects each household to consume as high as 3.3-terabyte (TB) digital content by the end of 2016, accelerating leading storage device manufacturers to diversify their portfolios to cloud-computing solutions.
In a statement, Western Digital Korea said its My Cloud could store digital content in computers and mobile devices in a single pot without concerns over safety. As the solution could support as high as a 4TB storage capacity, five or six devices can access real-time streaming service.
Western Digital said it will launch promotional campaigns to up awareness about the latest device.
"By using social networking sites, Western Digital will allow selected consumers to rent the device, freely, and use responses as our marketing tool," said the statement.
As Western Digital is dependent upon the HDD business, the rapid technological change in the technology industry could materially adversely impact its earnings, while analysts say competition in product development and pricing could adversely impact its corporate performance as well.
Western Digital will cut its reliance on the looming conventional hard disk drive (HDD) business by massively shifting its focus toward cloud solutions, the company said Thursday.
It is the world's top-tier manufacturer of electronic storage products or personal storage and enterprise.
At a news conference in Seoul, the NASDAQ-listed company released its latest cloud computing solution, dubbed "My Cloud." The device is no bigger than the average external HDD, easy to install and makes less noise.
"The market for personal cloud-computing solutions is expected to fully take off this year. The device will help us expand our territories in the lucrative and promising cloud-computing business segment, said Cho Won-seok, country manager at Western Digital.
According to the executive, rising demand for smartphones and other data-intensive devices, including tablets, is calling for a shift toward cloud-based computing systems.
"It's fair to say that consumers want to find devices that can store more data. We are seeing increased demand for personal cloud from the United States and Europe," the manager Cho said.
Gartner, a market research firm, expects each household to consume as high as 3.3-terabyte (TB) digital content by the end of 2016, accelerating leading storage device manufacturers to diversify their portfolios to cloud-computing solutions.
In a statement, Western Digital Korea said its My Cloud could store digital content in computers and mobile devices in a single pot without concerns over safety. As the solution could support as high as a 4TB storage capacity, five or six devices can access real-time streaming service.
Western Digital said it will launch promotional campaigns to up awareness about the latest device.
"By using social networking sites, Western Digital will allow selected consumers to rent the device, freely, and use responses as our marketing tool," said the statement.
As Western Digital is dependent upon the HDD business, the rapid technological change in the technology industry could materially adversely impact its earnings, while analysts say competition in product development and pricing could adversely impact its corporate performance as well.
