Seagate and Toshiba Battle to Acquire TDK’s HDD Business, Bloomberg Reports

Seagate and Toshiba are competing to acquire TDK’s magnetic-head business in a potential multi-billion-dollar deal driven by soaring demand for artificial intelligence data storage, Bloomberg reported on October 6, 2026. The transaction involves one of the few remaining independent manufacturers of the critical electronic components required to read and write data on hard disk drives.

Seagate and Toshiba Vie for Independent Supply

The bidding battle centers on TDK’s magnetic-recording head production as hard drive manufacturers work to strengthen their supply chains during an AI-fueled renaissance in magnetic storage. According to Bloomberg, Toshiba opened talks with TDK earlier in the spring, while Seagate entered the contest during the summer with a higher financial offer.

Representatives from Seagate, Toshiba, and TDK met in Tokyo to discuss the matter further, with executives even considering the creation of a new joint venture, sources familiar with the discussions said.

Divergent Supply Chain Pressures Across Industry Giants

The acquisition carries drastically different implications for each bidder due to their varying degrees of vertical integration. TrendForce noted that while Seagate and Western Digital maintain in-house magnetic-head production lines and rely on TDK mainly during demand spikes, Toshiba sources its HDD heads entirely from the Japanese supplier.

Access to TDK technology is critical to Toshiba’s plans to mass-produce high-capacity heat-assisted magnetic recording drives, which are central to its strategy to narrow the gap with larger competitors. TrendForce projected that Western Digital will hold a 48 percent share of the global HDD market in 2026, followed by Seagate at 42 percent and Toshiba trailing at 10 percent.

Strategic Portfolio Shift Toward Sensors and Batteries

For TDK, exiting the volatile, low-margin HDD head business would provide a sizable cash injection to redirect resources toward batteries, passive components, and sensors.