Western Digital plans to acquire Sandisk

Western Digital, familiar to most in the computer world as a maker of traditional spinning hard drives, has announced that they intend to purchase Sandisk Corporation, one of the leading manufacturers of portable storage devices, including USB flash drives, SD cards and  SSD storage drives for computers.  The deal will be worth approximately 19 billion dollars, so it is one of the largest acquisitions of its kind.  The transaction is subject to approval by SanDisk shareholders, and is expected to close in the 3rd quarter of 2016.

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“The combination is the next step in the transformation of Western Digital into a storage solutions company with global scale, extensive product and technology assets, and deep expertise in non-volatile memory (NVM),” according to the press release from Western Digital. “With this transaction, Western Digital will double its addressable market and expand its participation in higher-growth segments.”

Since Western Digital has lagged behind many other storage companies in developing SSD's, this should help them maintain their position as a leader in storage drives for computers and portable devices.  The days of spinning drives are fast coming to a close, as SSD's continue to arrive in greater capacity and it is only a matter of time until they match the older type of drives in price per terabyte, and thereby negate the last great advantage of the older tech.

You can read the official Western Digital press release here.

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