"With this in mind, ASUS and WD are collaborating to create slimmer and more mobile notebook solutions - without sacrificing capacity or performance - to deliver smaller form-factor to consumers." "We are seeing a shift in the computing world to more powerful mobile computing solutions," said SY Shain, senior vice president of ASUS' notebook business unit. "It's a part of our ongoing commitment to present leading technology that ultimately improves the total user experience of our customers." "Acer is partnering with WD to bring advanced notebook performance and capacity in the smallest form factor," said David Lee, associate vice president of Mobile Computing Product business unit at Acer. WD 5 mm hybrid hard drives will enable the market's thinnest computers to offer 500 GB of capacity, utilizing almost 50% less volume compared to current 9.5 mm hard drives and at one tenth the cost of similar capacity SSDs. With device volumetric efficiency a key concern for system makers, WD began shipping 7 mm height hard drives for thin-profile notebooks earlier this year (historically, standard notebook hard drives have been 9.5 mm). "Working with our technology partners, WD has developed new 5 mm hard drives that enable high capacity storage along with excellent performance and superior economics to allow our customers to expand their thin offerings." "Mobile devices are becoming smaller, thinner, lighter and more responsive," said Matt Rutledge, vice president of client storage solutions at WD. The new technologies will be showcased during WD's Investor Day, Sept.
WD has developed hard drives slim enough for integration into today's thinnest notebook PCs, which provide high-capacity storage and robustness while featuring instant-on and application performance similar to today's client solid state drives (SSDs). (NASDAQ: WDC) today announced it is sampling a 5mm-thin hard disk drive featuring hybrid technology. 10, 2012 – WD®, a subsidiary of Western Digital Corp. New 5 mm Standard Slashes Storage Footprint by Almost 50% Compared to Traditional 2.5-inch Hard Drives WD® Creates World's Thinnest 2.5-inch Hybrid Hard Drive