Mass production will start this trimester

Apr 13, 2005 09:43 GMT  ·  By

Toshiba has announced that it will double the capacity of its 0.85 inch hard-disks, reaching in this way 4 GB.

The 0.85 inch and 2 GB model is the smallest available hard-disk and currently, Toshiba produces each month 3,000 units.

The new generation of 4 GB will include 2 plates, which will lead to a thickness increase from 3.3 mm to 5 mm, and their production will start in April-June, Toshiba already announcing that there are clients for this model.

The thickness of the Toshiba models is the same as the one of Hitachi's Microdrives which can store 6 GB, but have smaller dimensions: 24x32 mm compared to Hitachi: 36x43 mm.

Toshiba is trying through this line of hard-disks to keep up with Hitachi which announced that the next generation of Microdrives having capacities varying from 8 GB to 10GB will be launched by the end of this year.

These models are aimed at the cell phone and mp3 player industry, Toshiba considering that hard disks will replace flash memories.

Samsung is also expected to launch similar products this year, but the company didn't confirm the production date.