AI is transforming how organisations in Asia Pacific are generating, storing, and scaling data – from management and insights, to optimising resource allocation, to digital transformation. The rise of generative AI applications is also expected to significantly increase storage demand across both cloud and on-premises environments.
According to a Statista 2025 report, the total amount of data created, captured, copied, and consumed globally is forecasted to increase rapidly, reaching 149 zettabytes last year (2024), and more than double to 394 zettabytes by 2028 (Source: Statista, Amount of data created, consumed, and stored 2010-2023, with forecasts to 2028, June 2025).
As cloud and AI adoption in the Asia Pacific continues to accelerate, hyperscalers and cloud service providers are seeking more sustainable, cost-efficient and effective storage solutions with large capacities to keep pace with storage and data growth while enabling greater value from data.
Sharing his insights on the evolving storage industry and the current state of the market in the Asia Pacific, Stefan Mandl, Vice President, Sales and Marketing of the APJC region, Western Digital, said that the region is a strategic and key market for the company.
“As data volumes continue to skyrocket, organisations are under pressure to manage, store, and access information efficiently. Meeting these demands requires storage solutions that are not just innovative and agile, but also scalable and economically viable. This is driving a clear and growing demand for mass-capacity storage,” he said.
Riding the AI and cloud boom
IDC projects that Asia Pacific’s managed cloud services will grow from US$10.8 billion in 2023 to US$22.6 billion by 2028 – increasing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.8 percent (IDC Press Release, Asia Pacific Managed Cloud Services Market to Double by 2028, Reaching US$22.6 Billion, July 2025).
This growth is attributed to the increasing enterprise adoption of hybrid and multi-cloud environments as organisations prioritise IT resilience, digital transformation, and AI-led modernisation.
“Exponential data growth demands bold, strategic collaboration. That is why our partnerships with hyperscalers, communications service providers (CSPs), original equipment manufacturer (OEMs) and channel partners in this region is key,” said Mandl. “We are committed to consistently delivering storage solutions that not only meet today’s demands but also provide long-term value to our customers.”
Why HDDs are indispensable in supporting the industry’s growth
Mandl shared that “While fast compute often grabs the headlines, AI workloads depend heavily on massive volumes of data sets, from model checkpoints to system logs and long-term archives.”
Hard disk drives (HDDs) are a critical component of the AI data storage stack as AI workloads increasingly generate massive volumes of data, from training datasets to historical archives. Mandl explained that hyperscale cloud and enterprise businesses are not just racing for higher capacity, they prioritise the best Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), predictability and scalability with their storage solutions.
“This is why HDDs continue to be the backbone of data storage and an ideal solution for supporting petabyte to exabyte-scale AI workloads, providing unmatched TCO value to scalability,” added Mandl.
AI is not a zero-sum game for storage
On the question of how HDDs can complement flash storage in supporting AI and cloud workloads, Mandl shared that data storage for AI is not a zero-sum game, and that the expanding ecosystems depends on both HDD and flash technologies.
“The reality is that all data storage is growing, and all boats are rising as a result of the increase in data generated, especially with the proliferation of more cloud-centric architectures and heavy workloads such as AI applications. This includes HDD, flash, and tape,” said Mandl.
According to IDC, nearly 80 percent of storage within the cloud will still be based on hard drives (IDC Market Forecast: Worldwide Global StorageSphere Forecast, 2025–2029, Doc # US53561425, June 2025).
For scaling AI affordability, HDDs continue to offer the best combination of capacity and cost per terabyte. “Based on feedback from Western Digital’s customers, the cost of acquisition and ongoing operational costs are the most important factors when deciding between flash and HDDs. Today, HDDs remain 3.6x less expensive than SSDs over their lifetime,” added Mandl.
Driving innovation and staying ahead
“Western Digital's approach of driving innovation has consistently delivered market-leading data centre HDDs, offering our customers the strongest value proposition in terms of TCO,” said Mandl.
On how the company is continuing to stay ahead of the curve, Mandl pointed out that Western Digital’s HDD portfolio is anchored by technologies like ePMR, OptiNAND, and UltraSMR, while the company is also investing in next-gen technologies like Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) with a roadmap to assist customer transitions.
By developing ePMR, UltraSMR, and HAMR in parallel, Western Digital gives customers the flexibility to adopt HAMR when it makes the most economic sense — expected to be at the 40TB+ capacity point. With joint testing already underway with hyperscalers and qualifications expected by the end of 2026, the company is on track to begin volume shipments of HAMR-based HDDs in the first half of 2027.
“We are providing a clear path forward, with industry-first advancements such as the world’s first 11-disk HDD and a roadmap to 50TB+ in the years beyond 2030. For enterprise customers, these milestones mean the ability to store, protect, and maximise the value of their information, now and into the future.” said Mandl.
