WD unveils SanDisk Professional, new storage solutions

Western Digital is combining high-end hardware with a well-known brand to create a new lineup of professional storage solutions. 

The data infrastructure company revealed the SanDisk Professional brand at its Flash Perspective event today. The brand will mix the performance of Western Digital’s G-Technology brand with the accessibility of the SanDisk image. 

Jim Welsh, the senior vice president and general manager of the Consumer Solutions business at Western Digital, said the company aims to help creators save time and focus on their content. 

“Expanding our brand family with SanDisk Professional allows us to offer advanced solutions to people around the world who rely on the best technology available for their inspiring work,” Welsh said in a press release.

Highlights of the new lineup

Western Digital unveiled several products and storage solutions for the SanDisk Professional roster, with an expected shipping date of June 2021. Here’s a quick look at each product.

  • PRO-DOCK 4 ($499.99)
  • PRO-CINEMA card ($449.99)
  • PRO-READER CFexpress ($99.99)
  • PRO-READER CFast ($89.99)
  • PRO-READER Multi Card ($79.99)
  • PRO-READER RED Mini Mag ($199.99)

The PRO-DOCK 4 stands out as one of the heavy hitters of this new lineup. It is a 4-bay reader docking station that enables up to four simultaneous card offloads, according to the press release. Western Digital is marketing this station as a “truly scalable offloading solution that saves critical time and money on multi-cam productions.” It will be available later this summer.

What’s next for G-Technology?

The G-Technology brand isn’t going anywhere, at least not yet. In addition to a new 4 TB G-DRIVE ArmorLock Encrypted NVMe SSD, the brand still supports its popular line of G-DRIVE and G-RAID storage solutions, according to Western Digital. 

The company did confirm that it’ll retire the G-Technology brand eventually. Though, it did not specify when that would be. The company did, however, say the same quality hardware that made G-Technology products a hit will live on under the SanDisk Professional brand. 

Essentially, Western Digital hopes to maintain G-Technology’s quality and performance, just under a different brand. Unfortunately, it may be too early to determine whether or not Western Digital will be able to achieve that. Still, the announcement marks a new, intriguing path forward for one of the leaders in storage solutions. 

Nick Woodard
Nick Woodard
Nick is the Managing Editor at Videomaker and Creator Handbook Magazines.

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