Seagate Technology announces that it is the first hard drive manufacturer worldwide to have shipped 1 billion hard drives -- a number not only staggering in size but also emblematic of the massive volume of digital content being created in entertainment, computer, automotive, security, consumer electronics and dozens of other markets. As further testimony to its market leadership and the central role hard drives play in the digital world today, Seagate projected that although it took 29 years to reach the 1 billion milestone, the company will ship the next billion in less than five years. Also, by the time its nearest competitor reaches 1billion drives shipped, Seagate estimates it will already be close to shipping its second billion.

In 1979, Seagate's first product, the ST506, could store 5 megabytes of data. The drive weighed about five pounds and cost $1,500. Today, several Seagate drives offer a terabyte of data (or 1,000 gigabytes), which has enough capacity to record 32 days of high-definition video, around the clock.

How do you use storage?

Copyright © 2008 Seagate Technology LLC. All rights reserved. Printed in USA. Seagate, Seagate Technology and the Wave logo are registered trademarks of Seagate Technology LLC in the United States and/or other countries. FreeAgent is either a trademark or registered trademark of Seagate Technology LLC or one of its affiliated companies in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Seagate reserves the right to change, without notice, product offerings or specifications. The IBM logo is a registered trademark of the International Business Machines Corporation.