Seagate used its Q4 fiscal 2026 earnings presentation this week to update its storage roadmap, saying its next-generation 50TB-class hard drives are on track for customer qualification in 2027. These drives will use the company's Mozaic 5+ platform, the third generation of its Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) technology, succeeding the current Mozaic 4+ platform that supports drives up to 44TB. CFO Gianluca Romano confirmed the company is on track to exceed 5TB per platter, which, combined with a ten-platter design, would produce 50TB drives.
Sources differ slightly on timing details: Tom's Hardware reported CEO Dave Mosley saying qualification shipments for Mozaic 5 remain on track for "late calendar 2027," with broader shipments following in 2028. Tom's Hardware noted that qualification processes typically take server OEMs two to six months and hyperscale cloud providers six to twelve months, suggesting meaningful shipping volumes would arrive in 2028 with a larger ramp in 2029. The Mozaic 5 platform will support both conventional magnetic recording (CMR) and shingled magnetic recording (SMR) variants for different customer needs.
Both sources emphasized that these early drives go first to large customers rather than consumers. TechPowerUp noted that Seagate's use of the term "customers" in this context refers to Big Tech, enterprises, and AI companies, with consumer availability typically following years later, if at all. Tom's Hardware reported that demand tied to AI and cloud computing growth has left most of Seagate's drives sold out through 2028, with the company in negotiations over allocations for 2029.
Mosley said Seagate expects to hit its next milestone by the end of calendar 2026, with 50% of its HAMR exabytes shipped on the Mozaic 4 platform. Tom's Hardware added that HAMR-based products already made up 40% of Seagate's nearline HDD exabyte shipments as of early July, a share the company expects to grow to 70% by mid-2027, with roughly half of nearline capacity relying on 40TB-class Mozaic 4 drives. Tom's Hardware also reported that Seagate's long-term supply agreements (LTAs) lock in exabyte volumes, product configurations, and prices through all of calendar 2027, while the company remains flexible—and is signaling price increases—on drives outside those agreements.
Looking further ahead, TechPowerUp reported that Seagate has a lab demonstration goal of reaching 10TB per platter around 2028, which could eventually enable drives approaching 100TB. The outlet cited Seagate's earlier disclosure of a prototype platter storing about 6.9TB, with an ongoing goal of reaching 8TB per platter. According to TechPowerUp, Seagate's broader roadmap anticipates 40-44TB drives in the 2027/2028 window, 50-60TB capacities around 2030, and drives exceeding 80TB by 2031/2032.
On the financial side, Tom's Hardware reported that Seagate's Q4 fiscal 2026 revenue reached $3.629 billion, up from $2.444 billion a year earlier, with gross margin rising to 52.3% from 37.4% and net income reaching $1.294 billion. For the full fiscal year, revenue totaled $12.195 billion, up from $9.097 billion, while net income more than doubled to $3.184 billion with a gross margin of 45.6%.