Samsung Crams 160GB on a Minuscule Drive

While most hard disk drives intended for desktop computers are going from 80 to 750GB and while mobile 2.5 inch disks are reaching 320GB, Samsung Electronics seems to want to break all records concerning data densities on hard disk drives as it just announced the release of its latest 1.8 inch drive that can accommodate no less than 160GB of data.

The hard disk drive with a small form factor of only 1.8 inch and 4200rpm, can play an important role in the growth of the mobile storage market according to Samsung in a press release concerning the release of this product. "The 1.8inch HDD market will grow at a tremendous pace with annual sales expected to increase up to 65% by 2010 as consumers demand smaller, more compact technology devices," states Andrew Higginbotham, director of hard drive sales and marketing, Samsung Semiconductor, who was cited in his company's press release. "Samsung is leading the pack with its new Spinpoint N2 Series drives that offer a best-in-class combination of reliability, capacity, performance, and value."

One of the possible markets of the new storage device is the HDD equipped camcorder market segment as the hard disk drive allows a better data density than either tapes or DVDs. A market study tells that HDD enabled recording cameras are gaining a tremendous amount of popularity and their sales will grow "from 4 million units in 2006 to over 8 million units by the end of 2011." Just like the camcorders, the portable music players may benefit from the apparition of the small hard disk drives that need a little power to function but which can store large quantities of information. The latest Samsung mini format HDD, the Spinpoint N2, can store more than 40,000 MP3 files or 100 HD quality movies thanks to its storage capacity of 160GB.