The Board of Investment (BOI) has approved investment incentives for Western Digital Storage Technologies (Thailand), an American hard disk drive manufacturer, which is expanding with a 23-billion-baht investment to tap into the growing cloud and data center industry.
Western Digital, commonly referred to as WD, is enhancing its production facilities located in the Bang Pa-in Industrial Estate in Ayutthaya and the 304 Industrial Park in Prachin Buri.
“The business expansion of WD is beneficial for the cloud and data center industries and will help drive the development of S-curved industries in Thailand,” stated Narit Therdsteerasukdi, secretary-general of the BOI.
Since beginning operations in Thailand in 1997, WD has employed over 28,000 workers.
Currently, Thailand manufactures up to 80% of the world’s hard disk drives, with major producers including WD and Seagate.
Western Digital Storage Technologies, a subsidiary of California-based WD, has expanded significantly after acquiring data storage operations from Fujitsu, Hitachi, SanDisk, and Komag. WD holds a 40% share of the global hard disk drive market.
WD’s additional investment in Thailand aims to enhance hard disk drive exports, potentially increasing their value by 200 billion a year and creating 10,000 new jobs.
This investment is likely to benefit other sectors, such as printed circuit board assembly and the manufacturing of metal and plastic materials, and power supply units, according to Mr. Narit.
“The value of these related businesses is expected to reach 81 billion a year,” he said.
Mr. Narit highlighted that WD’s ongoing investment indicates sustained growth in the hard disk drive sector, as data storage and processing remain essential for the cloud and data center industries.
