How Google is making portable storage drive makers like Western Digital happy – Times of India

With Google Photos ending free storage for images, brands like Western Digital are looking at tapping this opportunity to increase the footprint of personal storage drives. “As most cloud services across platforms now become subscription-based paid models, buyers are looking at a one-time investment in a good offline storage device,” said Khalid Wani, senior director – sales, India, Western Digital.
Google charges Rs 1,300 per year for providing 100GB Google Drive storage while you can get a portable 500GB SSD for around Rs 5000. With mobile phones offering 4K video recording and higher megapixel cameras, internal storage tends to occupy quickly. Also, with slower upload speeds, backing up GBs of photos and videos on cloud can be quite a task. Not to forget compression technologies on platforms like Google tend to lower the quality of the actual footage.
“It is safe to say that the relevance and importance of portable storage devices remain unmatched now more than ever as consumers are relying on terabytes worth of storage capacity in a sleek-sized offering,” added Wani.
Apart from providing more storage for a lesser price, the question is now about adding more value to portable drives apart from just data backup. “We recently ventured into a new product segment of wireless charging with the SanDisk Ixpand Wireless Charger Portfolio,” he said.
The SanDisk Ixpand Wireless Charger Sync is Western Digital’s first wireless charger that comes bundled with the dual functionality of wireless charging and automatic data storage and backup for Qi-Compatible devices. The device allows users to sync data while wirelessly charging the device.
Talking about adoption of wireless charging solutions among users in India, Wani said, “It’s just a matter of time before wireless charging technology becomes a norm in India. We foresee a remarkable shift in consumer behavior with regards to wireless tech adoption. This space will undoubtedly grow with more OEMs choosing the ‘no charger in the box’ route. More and more consumers will choose a wireless solution to gain flexibility over multiple operating systems and products that could be charged using a single device.”