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Western Digital to spin off flash business

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Re: Western Digital to spin off flash business

#11

Post by dehrmann »

SSLy wrote: post #9
dehrmann wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some companies have done this recently (J&J, iirc), but the article didn't mention any liabilities WD was trying to shed, and both these businesses are viable, so I'm not sure if this was just a knee-jerk corporate criticism or there's something to this.

Spinning rust side is only living because of price collusion by the flash vendors. Price for 8TB of TLC generic is currently 170 USD. QLC is cheaper than that.

That's actually a valid reason to spin off a business, especially if you happen to know you'll cross the inflection point in ~5 years. It isn't the same as the "legacy liabilities" game, though. Some investors want the growth business, some want the stable business, some want a cheaply-priced declining business (seriously; look into anything that pays royalties).

Re: Western Digital to spin off flash business

#12

Post by dboreham »

splix wrote: post #8
ulfw wrote: post #4

I will never waste money on a Sandisk SSD again. My last one stopped working out of nowhere. Much happier with my Crucial X10.

There is no brand that never produced a SSD with a fault. I had tried all major HDD/SSD brands, and I think every single of them failed at some point. What is important is how they handle that. I had a faulty Sandisk and it was replaced with a working one without any problem or unnecessary question. Some other brands annoy you with stupid questions, puzzles and other tricks trying to avoid doing a replacement. And so…

I've never had a problem with Intel, but they sold that business recently.

Re: Western Digital to spin off flash business

#13

Post by HPsquared »

Obscurity4340 wrote: post #10

It would be such a great headline if they worked disk and/or disc into it somehow Like > Western Digital spins Disk+Disc Businesses off

Or how it's a bad sector to be in.

Edit: I'm sure the editorial staff at The Register are brainstorming a headline at this very moment.

Re: Western Digital to spin off flash business

#14

Post by mbreese »

SSLy wrote: post #9
dehrmann wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some companies have done this recently (J&J, iirc), but the article didn't mention any liabilities WD was trying to shed, and both these businesses are viable, so I'm not sure if this was just a knee-jerk corporate criticism or there's something to this.

Spinning rust side is only living because of price collusion by the flash vendors. Price for 8TB of TLC generic is currently 170 USD. QLC is cheaper than that.

Spinning rust is still useful for many purposes and will probably live on for decades more. We generate a ton of data and most of it ends up as read rarely or never. But it can live with slower access times on longer duration storage.

It’s honestly just like tape. There will be an HDD market for a long time that will be hidden in the whirl of data centers. Consumer HDD will slowly melt away, but the price/byte and durability of disk will keep it viable for quite a while. It’s still faster than tape (but not as cheap).

Re: Western Digital to spin off flash business

#15

Post by Obscurity4340 »

HPsquared wrote: post #13
Obscurity4340 wrote: post #10

It would be such a great headline if they worked disk and/or disc into it somehow Like > Western Digital spins Disk+Disc Businesses off

Or how it's a bad sector to be in. Edit: I'm sure the editorial staff at The Register are brainstorming a headline at this very moment.

Something, something, disc-injury spin from disc/disk industry on worker injuries

Re: Western Digital to spin off flash business

#16

Post by greatgib »

Usually stock investors don't like diversification within companies. It is harder to value.

I think that they realized that there is not so much in common between the HDD and flash business. No added value to own the 2 business compared to separated entities.

With that, the WD legacy HDD business can continue as a dividend stock dying slowly. And the flash business can now pretend to crazy valuations based on a shinny future.

Re: Western Digital to spin off flash business

#17

Post by vluft »

dboreham wrote: post #12
splix wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no brand that never produced a SSD with a fault. I had tried all major HDD/SSD brands, and I think every single of them failed at some point. What is important is how they handle that. I had a faulty Sandisk and it was replaced with a working one without any problem or unnecessary question. Some other brands annoy you with stupid questions, puzzles and other tricks trying to avoid doing a replacement. And so…

I've never had a problem with Intel, but they sold that business recently.

they had a whole series that would irretrievably die after 1700 idle hours due to a firmware bug.

Re: Western Digital to spin off flash business

#18

Post by duffyjp »

dboreham wrote: post #12
splix wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no brand that never produced a SSD with a fault. I had tried all major HDD/SSD brands, and I think every single of them failed at some point. What is important is how they handle that. I had a faulty Sandisk and it was replaced with a working one without any problem or unnecessary question. Some other brands annoy you with stupid questions, puzzles and other tricks trying to avoid doing a replacement. And so…

I've never had a problem with Intel, but they sold that business recently.

This summer I bought two Intel 2TB nvme drives for $65 each. Not the newest tech but I've also never had a problem with an Intel SSD. I still have my original 40GB from 2012 in an old laptop and it works just like new.

The company that bought their SSD division (Solidigm) supports the Intel branded drives, and their utility had firmware updates ready to go for the ones I bought.

I'd probably buy a Solidigm if I needed a new drive and these firesale Intel drives are gone.

Re: Western Digital to spin off flash business

#19

Post by lloydatkinson »

kstrauser wrote: post #7
bragr wrote: post #2

So saddle all the legacy liabilities in with the legacy business and slowly suck out the equity, while the flash business grows? I can see how that's a win for investors at least. Are the flash products still going to be branded WD?

Nailed it. They’ve been spending goodwill like crazy with debacles like pushing out SMR junk under the Red name. In my experience, their overall quality control has plummeted over the last few years. I’ve bought 3 Red drives for my home Synology. After about a year with each, the drive utilization graph will start creeping up toward a steady 100% while the other drives in the RAID are mostly idle. All drives have the…

I also had two Reds showing bad sectors after around a year, with a Synology. What "colour" drive do you usually buy now? Or even which manufacturer?

Re: Western Digital to spin off flash business

#20

Post by Scoundreller »

kstrauser wrote: post #7
bragr wrote: post #2

So saddle all the legacy liabilities in with the legacy business and slowly suck out the equity, while the flash business grows? I can see how that's a win for investors at least. Are the flash products still going to be branded WD?

Nailed it. They’ve been spending goodwill like crazy with debacles like pushing out SMR junk under the Red name. In my experience, their overall quality control has plummeted over the last few years. I’ve bought 3 Red drives for my home Synology. After about a year with each, the drive utilization graph will start creeping up toward a steady 100% while the other drives in the RAID are mostly idle. All drives have the…

HP or HPe?

Basically the same segmentation of “good business” and “bad business” there too.

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