Western Digital tops in Q1 2010 drive shipments

Western Digital Corp., the No. 2 player in hard disk drives (HDD) for the past three decades, shipped a record 51.1 million units in the first quarter to take the top position among storage suppliers for the first time, according to market research firm iSuppli Corp.

Though Western Digital topped nemesis Seagate Technology LLC in unit shipments for the first time in any quarter, the company remained No. 2 in revenue during the quarter, with $2.64 billion, trailing Seagate's $3.1 billion, iSuppli said. Seagate shipped 50.3 million HDDs in the first quarter, iSuppli (El Segundo, Calif.) estimated.