It’s just a Monday, and of course we cannot go one day without something frustrating popping up. This time, it’s Western Digital reporting that its 2026 hard drive allocation is already spoken for. Yep. Two months into the year and it’s essentially sold out. If you’re a PC gamer, home lab tinker, or dabble in computers, it’s starting to get that more depressing.
As reported by Mashable and Tweaktown, Western Digital held its quarterly earnings call where CEO Irving Tan stated the company is “pretty much sold out for calendar 2026.” He followed that up by explaining that most of the company’s storage capacity has been reserved for its top seven customers. To make matters worse, three of those customers already have agreements lined up for 2027 and 2028.
Unsurprisingly, many of these customers are AI companies and large data centers. That sector has been absorbing enormous amounts of storage and memory capacity, reshaping supply priorities across the industry. In fact, Western Digital’s own VP of Investor Relations noted that cloud revenue now accounts for roughly 89% of the company’s total revenue, while consumer sales make up just 5%.
That breakdown makes it clear where the focus is. Enterprise and cloud infrastructure are now driving the overwhelming majority of Western Digital’s business. However, if the company was already heavily moving away from consumers prior to this, that break own isn’t really a fair representation now, is it?
With Western Digital now leaning heavily toward AI and cloud infrastructure, it raises real questions about what the PC landscape will look like for consumers and small businesses. RAM pricing has already been ridiculous over the past few months, with no real sign of stabilizing. Now hard drives, both internal and external, may be heading down the same path
Is it legal? Yes. A private company is free to sell its products to whoever it chooses. Is it good for everyday consumers? That’s a different conversation. Investors likely see this as smart business. But for the rest of us who depend on affordable storage and memory, it feels like yet another shift away from the consumer market. The world runs on RAM, just like I run on Dunkin when I need to start my day. If hard drives start joining the “hard to find” list, upgrades, repairs, and even simple RMAs could become far more expensive and complicated.
It’s not a great sign. And right now, it’s hard to see this trend reversing anytime soon. If I had to put it into so many words, I’d say that it “Sucks.” If you plan on upgrading your storage, and this goes double for anyone looking to either pick up some WD cloud storage or upgrading your NAS, I’d do it sooner than later.
**Insert Charlie Brown’s “AAUGH” sound**
