东京讯——随着人工智能的爆发式普及推动数据存储需求激增，日本企业正竞相扩大硬盘驱动器零部件的产能，这为瑞萨控股和TDK等生产各类先进技术的公司带来了利好。
TOKYO -- Japanese companies are racing to expand production of parts for hard-disk drives as the explosive spread of artificial intelligence drives demand for data storage, giving a boon to companies like Resonac Holdings and TDK that make a wide range of advanced technologies.
在AI数据中心，聚光灯一直聚焦于负责运算的图形处理器，以及能高速传输运算所需数据的高带宽内存。
In AI data centers, the spotlight has been on graphics processors, which handle computing, and high-bandwidth memory, which rapidly transfers data needed for calculations.
但硬盘也扮演着至关重要的角色：存储AI产生的海量信息，包括训练数据集和推理结果。算力与存储容量都是AI的必备条件。
But hard drives play a critical role of their own: storing the enormous volumes of information generated by AI, including training datasets and inference results. Both computing power and storage capacity are musts for AI.
硬盘内部的许多关键技术源自日本。硬盘中心是一个被称为盘片的圆盘状组件，信息记录在其上。数据存储在沉积于铝等材料制成的基板上的数十层磁性层（称为介质）中。瑞萨目前是全球唯一的硬盘介质外部供应商制造商。
Many of the key technologies inside hard drives come from Japan. At the center of a drive is a disk-shaped component known as a platter, on which information is recorded. Data is stored in dozens of magnetic layers, called media, deposited on substrates made of aluminum and other materials. Resonac is now the world's only external vendor manufacturer of hard-drive media.
在负责向介质写入和读取信息的磁头领域，TDK仍是全球领先制造商之一。日本发条在控制磁头定位的精密弹簧——悬臂方面占据全球市场份额首位。
In magnetic heads, which write and read information to and from the media, TDK remains one of the world's leading manufacturers. NHK Spring holds the top global market share in suspensions, the precision springs that control the positioning of magnetic heads.
美蓓亚三美和日本电产是旋转磁盘的主轴电机主要供应商，而日东电工在硬盘电路板市场占据较高份额。
MinebeaMitsumi and Nidec are major suppliers of spindle motors that spin the disks, while Nitto Denko commands a high share of the market for hard-drive circuit boards.
硬盘行业以高技术准入门槛著称。磁头与介质之间的间隙仅为几纳米。负责瑞萨电子硬盘业务的真壁康将其比作“巨型喷气式客机在距地面仅两三毫米的高度滑翔”。距离过宽将无法提高记录密度，而距离过窄则会带来磁头与介质接触的风险。随着数据中心对更大存储容量的需求不断增长，硬盘制造所需的精度变得日益严苛。
The hard-drive industry is known for having high technological barriers to entry. The gap between the head and the media is just a few nanometers. Yasushi Makabe, who oversees the hard-disk business at Resonac, likens the scale to "a jumbo jet gliding just two or three millimeters above the ground." Too wide a distance would make it impossible to increase recording density, while too narrow a distance would risk contact between the head and the media. As data centers demand ever-larger storage capacities, the precision required in hard-drive manufacturing becomes increasingly stringent.
日本企业长期以来擅长通过跨供应商微调组件来提高记录密度。“我们通过交换信息和进行评估，与磁头制造商紧密合作，以便双方都能发挥最大性能，”真壁说道。
Japanese companies have long excelled at fine-tuning components across suppliers to raise recording density. "We work closely with magnetic head manufacturers by exchanging information and conducting evaluations so that each side can deliver the maximum performance," Makabe said.
硬盘经历了漫长的寒冬。2010年代，速度更快的固态硬盘普及，并逐渐在个人电脑中取代了硬盘。
Hard drives endured a long winter. In the 2010s, solid-state drives, which offer faster speeds, became widespread and increasingly replaced them in personal computers.
该行业还面临激烈的技术和价格竞争，最终整合为三家公司：美国的希捷科技控股和西部数据，以及日本的东芝。瑞萨电子被迫于2023年关闭其台湾生产设施。
The industry also faced fierce technological and price competition, eventually consolidating around three companies: U.S.-based Seagate Technology Holdings and Western Digital, and Japan's Toshiba. Resonac was forced to shut down its Taiwanese production facility in 2023.
生成式AI改变了行业命运。数据生成量激增，促使人们重新评估硬盘在存储信息方面的作用。那些在多年停滞中保持生产基地的公司，如今将从竞争对手减少中获益。制造商们正争相扩大其生产网络。
Generative AI changed the industry's fortunes. The volume of data being created has soared, prompting a reassessment of hard drives' role in storing the information. Companies that maintained their manufacturing bases through years of stagnation now stand to benefit from a shrinking field of competitors. Manufacturers are rushing to expand their production networks.
瑞萨科技正在新加坡工厂投资约230亿日元（1.46亿美元），将产能提升至每年2.3亿片。公司计划从2027年起增设生产线，并通过提价收回投资。为压缩成本，台湾工厂的设备将被转移至新加坡工厂的闲置空间。
Resonac is investing about 23 billion yen ($146 million) in a Singapore plant to boost capacity to 230 million disks per year. The company plans to add production lines from 2027 onward, raising prices to recoup its investment. To keep costs down, equipment from the Taiwan facility will be transferred to unoccupied space at the Singapore plant.
日本发条正在泰国生产基地建设新厂房，用于生产硬盘悬架。公司计划总投资350亿日元，将悬架产能提升最多60%。
NHK Spring is constructing a new building at a production base in Thailand for manufacturing hard-drive suspensions. The company plans a total of 35 billion yen in investment to boost its suspension production capacity by as much as 60%.
产量并非盈利增长的唯一潜在途径。存储密度也将成为竞争的关键，因为数据中心需要在给定空间内存储不断增加的信息量。
Volume is not the only potential avenue for earnings growth. Storage density will also be key to compete, since data centers need to be able to store increasing amounts of information in a given space.
硬盘制造商正在研发热辅助磁记录技术，这是一种有助于满足存储容量需求的下一代技术。
Hard-drive makers are working on heat-assisted magnetic recording, a next-generation technology to help meet storage capacity needs.