Goodbye WD Black and Blue, Hello (again) SanDisk Optimus

Western Digital has been a household name for many years. In late 2023, Western Digital announced that it is splitting into two separate companies. All platter-based hard disk drive products would remain under the Western Digital brand while all NAND Flash memory products would spin off as an independent company.

Today, SanDisk, the company that owns Western Digital, announced that it is reviving the Optimus name to resolve branding problems created by the split.

Good to known: SanDisk used Optimus as a brand name for enterprise products until 2013. The new Optimus is consumer focused, however.

Western Digital Blue and Black products will be consolidated under the Optimus brand going forward.

SanDisk is splitting the different WD hard drive series into three groups intended for different target audiences.

Old WD Branding	New SanDisk Branding	Target Audience
WD Blue (SN5000 series)	SanDisk Optimus	Mainstream / Creators For standard PC builds and light creative work.
WD Black (SN7000 series)	SanDisk Optimus GX	Gamers High-speed drives for gaming rigs and consoles (PS5).
WD Black (SN8000 series)	SanDisk Optimus GX Pro	Enthusiasts / Pro Flagship performance (PCIe Gen 5) for workstations and extreme gaming.

Initial capacities range from 512 megabytes to 8 terabytes just like before. SanDisk has not announced any new products at this time, but it is probably only a matter of time before new Optimus products are announced.

Here is how this affects consumers

All warranties for existing Western Digital Blue and Black drives remain valid. However, support will be handled through a new SanDisk support portal.

The first wave of Optimus drives are identical to WD Black and Blue drives. They will have a new packaging to highlight the change, with Western Digital branding gone and a new SanDisk branding taking its place.