Perpendicular Magnetic Recording to be Key to HDD Industry's Future

global

IDC: Perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology will be key to the hard disk drive industry and its adoption cannot be delayed. The transition to PMR and to the new heads and media required for this technology will begin late in 2005 and will be broadly adopted in products by the end of 2007. PMR will be ubiquitous in the 630 million hard drives shipped in 2009. The transition to PMR and to other new technologies should demand renewed focus on company business models, partnerships, and strategies. The required increase in investments (e.g., R&D spending, new manufacturing capacity, etc.), will drive further industry consolidation.

• Vertically-integrated companies will have smoother and less costly transitions to perpendicular recording and other new technologies, but must bear R&D costs on their own.

• The large majority of small form factor hard drives shipped by 2008 will leverage perpendicular recording for capacity requirements.Suspension technology like secondary actuation already has limited implementation and is not targeted for broad-based implementation until 2007.Within 5 years, PMR will reach areal densities of four to five times that of today’s technology.GMR CPP is now expected in 2007, not before Femto or TMR.

2005 Hard Disk Drive Industry: Component Technologies and Business Models Publ 20050621