History of Hard Drives Timeline

The IBM 2311 used the IBM 1316 disk pack to provide five megabytes of storage, extending the removable-pack approach to higher-capacity systems.

The IBM 2314 used an IBM 2316 disk pack to store 29 megabytes, continuing the rapid capacity growth of IBM removable disk systems.

The IBM 3330 introduced error correction that made disk drives more reliable and less expensive. Small imperfections in disk surfaces could be tolerated without making the drive unusable.

IBM introduced the 3330 Direct Access Storage Facility, code-named Merlin, as a major disk-storage system for large-scale computing.

IBM introduced the 2305 disk drive, which used a head-per-track architecture for rapid access.

IBM introduced the IBM 3340 Winchester disk drive and its 3348 data module. It was the first significant commercial use of low-mass, low-load heads with lubricated platters and became IBM's last removable-media disk drive.

The Winchester design and its derivatives remained the standard hard-drive technology through 2011, shaping the construction of later sealed disk drives.

IBM and StorageTek introduced the swinging-arm actuator. The design was later adopted across the hard-disk industry during the 1980s.

The 1980 IBM 3380 provided 2.52 gigabytes of storage, demonstrating the continuing demand for large 14-inch hard-drive systems used with mainframes and other mid-range computers.

The NEC N7755 became the first hard disk drive to ship with more than one gigabyte of capacity, offering 1.27 gigabytes.

Image source: History of hard disk drives

Conner Peripherals shipped the CP-341, identified as the first native IDE hard disk drive.

The Common Access Method committee specified IDE through an industry effort as ATA in April 1989, helping standardize the interface used by personal-computer hard drives.

Image source: Parallel ATA

Hitachi became the first manufacturer to offer a one-terabyte hard drive in a 3.5-inch form factor.

Image source: HGST

Western Digital became the first manufacturer to offer a one-terabyte hard drive in a 2.5-inch form factor.

Image source: Western Digital

Western Digital and Seagate released hard disk drives containing ten platters, increasing capacity within the standard drive enclosure.

Memorex shipped the Memorex 630, the first hard disk drive from an independent manufacturer. Plug-compatible with the IBM 2311, it marked the beginning of independent plug-compatible competition for IBM-attached disk systems.

Memorex followed with the Memorex 660, compatible with the IBM 2314. The drive was OEM-produced for DEC and resold as the RP02.

Image source: Memorex

Control Data Corporation introduced the first drives in its SMD series, using conventional removable disk-pack technology.

Led by Control Data, Diablo Systems, CalComp, and Memorex, the OEM segment reached $631 million, although it remained below the $2.8 billion value of captive production.

The IBM PC XT included a standard internal 10-megabyte hard disk and IBM's version of the Xebec disk-drive controller. Internal hard drives soon proliferated in personal computers.

Image source: IBM Personal Computer XT

Rodime introduced the 3.5-inch hard-drive form factor, which became widely used in desktop computers and other compact systems.

Image source: Rodime

Industry participation peaked at about 75 active manufacturers. Although the number of participants later declined, production volume continued to rise.

The Toshiba T3100 became the first laptop computer with a built-in hard disk drive, helping establish hard drives as a component of portable computing.

Image source: Toshiba T3100

PrairieTek introduced the 2.5-inch hard-drive form factor, enabling smaller storage devices for portable and laptop computers.

Image source: PrairieTek

By 1989, hard-drive production reached 22 million units and generated approximately $23 billion in revenue.

Maxtor introduced the first hard disk drive only five millimeters thick, demonstrating the continuing push toward thinner storage devices.

The hard-disk-drive industry experienced its first-ever decline in both units and revenue.

Unit production peaked at approximately 650 million hard drives in 2010. Production then entered a prolonged, gradual decline.

Floods hit many hard-drive factories in 2011, disrupting manufacturing and supply chains in the industry.

Image source: 2011 Thailand floods

The number of hard-drive industry participants declined to three, leaving Seagate, Toshiba, and Western Digital as the surviving major manufacturers.

Jimmy Zhu and H. Neal Bertram of the University of California, San Diego proposed exchange-decoupled granular microstructure for thin-film disk storage media, a structure that remains in use.

The Toshiba MK1122FC featured the first hard-disk-drive platter made with a glass substrate, an important change in platter materials.

Toshiba released the first practical hard disk drive equipped with a giant magnetoresistance disk read-and-write head, enabling higher recording densities.

Image source: Giant magnetoresistance

Samsung announced a hybrid hard drive developed with Microsoft. It used substantial flash memory as a cache to improve performance and serve as an intermediate technology between hard drives and solid-state drives.

Seagate announced its version of the hybrid drive, calling it an SSHD, combining magnetic storage with flash memory intended to improve frequently used data access.

HGST shipped the first modern helium-filled hard disk drive, the Ultrastar He6. It stored six terabytes across seven platters.

Image source: Hard disk drive

By 2020, solid-state drives had become inexpensive enough to compete with hard drives at the capacities used by most consumers.

Image source: Solid-state drive

The Ultrastar HC550 shipped in late 2020 as the first energy-assisted magnetic recording drive.

Image source: Two-dimensional magnetic recording

Seagate released 20-terabyte heat-assisted magnetic recording hard drives in January 2021.

Toshiba released the first hard drives using flux-control microwave-assisted magnetic recording technology.

Products using the dual-actuator approach announced by Seagate in 2017 were released in 2021. The design uses two independent actuator arms to increase hard-drive data-transfer performance.

Seagate released the Exos Mozaic 3+ product line with heat-assisted magnetic recording heads and capacities up to 32 terabytes.

Seagate released a 36-terabyte variation of the Exos Mozaic 3+ product line, representing the largest commercially available hard-drive capacity listed for February 2025.

Image source: Seagate Technology

As of March 2026, the largest hard drive was listed at 44 terabytes, while solid-state drives could reach 100 terabytes and mainstream consumer SSDs remained capped at eight terabytes.