Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Spindle Motors

Brushless DC spindle motors that rotate the magnetic platters in hard disk drives at precisely controlled speeds (5,400-15,000 RPM). Every HDD — from laptop drives to the high-capacity nearline drives filling data center storage arrays — contains a Nidec spindle motor. Nidec Corporation holds approximately 80% of global HDD spindle motor market share; the remainder is supplied by smaller Japanese motor makers. The three HDD manufacturers (Seagate, Western Digital/HGST, Toshiba) all source spindle motors primarily from Nidec. A disruption to Nidec HDD motor production directly constrains global HDD output, affecting data center storage capacity expansion worldwide.