Western Digital will observe the growing solid-state drive (SSD) while continuing to push hard disk drives (HDDs) before making a decision when to launch SSD-based products. As other manufacturers outline their plans for SSDs, WD was one of the last companies to publicly outline what it hopes to do in the future.
The company will manufacture SSDs when it sees an "appropriate opportunity," WD SVP for marketing Richard Rutledge recently said during an interview with The Register.
"We do not currently supply to either several platform categories [game console, car, phone] or product categories [SAS/FC-AL on 10K/15K, SSD]. This said, we know [and] understand each of these segments and are open to enter any [or] all of them when they present appropriate opportunity."
WD expects to see low-end SSDs with prices under $30 used "in consumer handheld mobile platforms. The higher-end SSDs will be used in technologies with a focus on performance applications and will cost over $199.
A new category of consumer electronics could be created which would fill the void between smartphones and netbooks, according to WD. The "smartbook" would utilize SSDs and have a screen area from 7" up to 9." If WD doesn't mass produce SSDs for multiple markets, it's likely the company could focus on smartbooks and the enterprise.
SSDs are more reliable and read data faster than HDDs, but write times often are slower and they are significantly more expensive than HDDs.
Seagate promises SSD technology next year, while SanDisk also anticipates a greater demand and lower cost to help spur SSD innovation. Sitting on the sidelines and watching the SSD market develop could hurt Seagate and WD in the future, but it's a risk they're currently willing to take until demand picks up.
