Gadgets drive demand for hard disk drives

Despite challenges from rival technologies such as Flash, the hard disk drive (HDD) will be a key component in a growing number of consumer electronics products through to the end of the decade, experts have predicted.

According to new research from In-Stat, worldwide HDD shipments will jump from 380 million in 2005 to 748 million in 2010, with the consumer electronics segment continuing to be one of the fastest growing applications. 

"While hard drives have become small enough to embed in most portable consumer devices, competitive storage solutions, such as increasing Flash capacities, continue to threaten this market," said In-Stat analyst Stephanie Ethier.

"However, Flash becomes cost-prohibitive at multi-gigabyte capacities. HDDs will more effectively address portable multimedia devices that offer a wide range of capabilities requiring higher storage capacities."

The In-stat report predicts that video-capable MP3 players and portable media players will drive continued demand for small form factor HDDs.

By 2010, approximately 38 percent of all HDDs shipped worldwide are expected to go into consumer electronics devices.

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