Archive notice: This article was originally published on March 18, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Electronics manufacturer Samsung expects flash-based solid-state drives (SSDs) to catch up with conventional magnetic hard drives on price within just a few years. Brian Beard, marketing manager for Samsung’s flash business, told Cnet that no end to falling flash-module prices was in sight. Because of their construction, conventional hard drives would be unable to keep pace.
Storage components have seen price declines of 40 to 60 percent in recent years, and the Samsung executive expects this trend to continue. Because an SSD requires little beyond those components, a circuit board, cables and an enclosure, the products will become steadily cheaper. A conventional hard drive additionally needs a spindle, motor and a more complex enclosure, Beard explained. These alone add fixed costs of around $50, giving hard drives an inherent minimum price.
Conventional hard disks still lead the market at present. Alongside price, magnetic disks also currently have the capacity advantage, although SSDs are catching up quickly. Earlier this year, pureSilicon introduced a product with one terabyte of capacity. SanDisk is moving towards the mainstream market on price: models with 240 GB cost around $500, while a 120 GB version is available for just under $250. The products are expected to be available from the middle of the year.
SSDs are considered an ideal storage medium for portable devices such as notebooks and smaller netbooks. Installed storage is usually limited to a few gigabytes to keep prices low. Their advantages include fast access times and energy-efficient operation. Server manufacturers have also recognised the potential and are increasingly using SSDs, significantly improving data-centre energy efficiency and reducing costs.
