Date: 16/04/2012

IHS iSuppli: Desktops set to adopt 2.5-Inch Hard Disc Drives (HDD)

The market for thinner and smaller storage devices grows due to demand for all-in-one PCs. 2.5-inch HDDs are replacing 3.5 Inch HDDs in desktops beginning next year due to the lower power consumption and compact size.

IHS iSuppli has reported worldwide shipments of 2.5-inch HDDs to all-in-one PCs are forecast to reach approximately 1 million units in 2013, up from virtually zero this year. Shipments then will increase to 3 million units the following year and rise steadily until they hit some 7 million units in 2016, as shown in the figure below. The HDD market for all-in-one PCs will continue to be dominated by 3.5-inch discs, with shipments by 2016 estimated at 31 million units, but growth will be much slower for the segment during the same period than for 2.5-inch drives.
Electronics Engineering Herald
Other findings and analysis shared by IHS includes:

Mobiles, notebook PCs, external hard disk drives, server and storage systems and other variety of products use the 2.5-inch HDD due to their advantages over conventional 3.5-inch HDDs. The prime advantages being smaller form factor, lower power consumption and higher endurance.

"With a maximum capacity of 1 terabyte, 2.5-inch HDDs are proving very attractive to PC makers for use in their next-generation all-in-one designs," said Fang Zhang, analyst for storage systems at IHS. "Multiple all-in-one PCs has the potential to adopt 2.5-inch HDDs, including the iMac from Apple Inc., TouchSmart from Hewlett-Packard, Series 7 from Samsung Electronics, IdeaCentre from Lenovo, Top Touchscreen from Asus Eee and all-in-one desktops from Vizio and Acer."

All-in-One PCs for All: With demand for all-in-one desktop PCs expected to grow, future market prospects for the 2.5-inch HDD appear encouraging, IHS believes. Compared to conventional desktop PCs, all-in-ones possess superior features and performance, brought about by advances in microprocessors and the thinner HDD size. As such, all-in-one desktop PCs can extend the markets for 2.5-inch HDDs beyond their current areas in notebooks, external hard drives and the enterprise, allowing the thinner and smaller drives to penetrate the desktop space.

Speed and Pricing Challenges: Speed and price would be the two main disadvantages of the 2.5-inch HDD. Most 2.5-inch drives typically run at 5,400 revolutions per minute (rpm), compared to 7,200 rpm for the 3.5-inch. The 2.5-inch also sells at slightly higher prices than the 3.5-inch as a whole.
Nonetheless, enough positive factors are present to push growth overall for 2.5-inch drives. As a result, the 2.5-inch will represent approximately 4 percent of the all-in-one desktop PC market by next year, and then go on to account for 18 percent of the all-in-one market by 2016. And as capacity and speed continue to improve and costs go down, the 2.5-inch HDD is expected to take share away from 3.5-inch HDDs in the traditional desktop PC market, IHS predicts.

"The 2.5-inch hard drive market may enjoy about four to five years of uninterrupted growth before low-priced, high-density solid state drives become more competitive," Zhang said.

For more details visit http://www.isuppli.com/Memory-and-Storage/Pages/2-5-Inch-HDDs-Enter-the-Desktop-PC-Market.aspx?PRX