Western Digital is working on the unification of its brand, which means the HGST brand name will disappear. The first step in that direction is the name change of the Western Digital Ultrastar DC HC320. The HDD, targeted at data center usage, was earlier this year announced as the HGST Ultrastar 7K8.
Apparently the old name of the HDD, targeted at data center use, wasn't inline with Western Digital's new branding strategy. The company explains the new strategy in a blog on the Western Digital website.
HGST's director of HDD product line management, Lenny Sharp, writes, “all new commercial and enterprise products going forward will carry this new Western Digital branding as we transition away from the HGST brand. Western Digital has gone through a significant transformation with the integration of multiple companies. Moving to the Western Digital brand for all of our commercial and enterprise products is the first step in unifying the brands in our portfolio.”
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST) was founded in 2003, and was a merger between the hard disk drive businesses of IBM and Hitachi. In 2012, Western Digital acquired HGST and it was planned that HGST would continue with its own brand name and product lines. That era now ends.
In 2015, Western Digital acquired Sandisk, according to today's announcement also that brand name will likely disappear for commercial and enterprise products and will be replaced by the Western Digital brand.
