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News Release from: Toshiba Europe Storage Device Division
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 4 October 2006

Hard drive shipments pass 150 million

Toshiba Storage Device Division has reached an industry milestone of 150 million HDDs produced across its portfolio of 2.5, 1.8 and 0.85in form factors.

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Toshiba Storage Device Division has reached an industry milestone of 150 million HDDs produced across its portfolio of 2.5, 1.8 and 0.85in form factors. This achievement demonstrates the extent to which hard disk drive technology has been accepted worldwide as a complimentary technology for our ever-increasing mobile and digital lifestyles. When compared with the population of the UK, this milestone means that Toshiba has produced, on average, 2.5 HDDs per person.

Alternatively this means that 1 in every 44 people in the world has used or is using a HDD from Toshiba.

Toshiba was the first HDD vendor to identify the market opportunity for small form factor HDDs.

This dedication has led to Toshiba becoming the market leader for the 2.5in form factor for four consecutive quarters and a total production level of 107 million 2.5in drives.

The company also leads the market in 1.8in HDDs and has to date produced 40 million 1.8in HDDs.

These drives are most commonly found in today's most popular MP3 players, personal video recorders (PVRs), portable media players (PMRs) and highly portable notebook PCs.

According to analyst house IDC, Toshiba has remained the leading supplier of hard disk drives for consumer electronics applications for four consecutive quarters.

To assist the trend for higher storage capacities and product miniaturisation, Toshiba recently reduced the size of its 1.8in HDDs and was the first company to bring perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) to market and has to date produced one million PMR drives.

By standing the magnetic bits on end, perpendicular recording is able to achieve stable higher recording densities and improved storage capacities.

These achievements aid product designers in the incorporation of additional features and functionalities into increasingly smaller form factors.

'When the hard disk drive was introduced over 50 years ago no one could have imagined how well the technology would be accepted worldwide'.

'It has helped create new applications whilst offering the perfect medium in which to store the numerous memories and moments we create in our personal and business lives', said Martin Larsson, General Manager, Toshiba Europe Storage Device Division.

'We are continuing to develop new technologies that will further broaden the applications for our hard disk drives and ensure that product designers can continue to bring new and exciting devices to market'.

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