A pep talk to HD companies from Chris Mellor. I don't think he appreciates the issue of who makes the chips, though.
Disk vendors should get properly on the SSD pot
Flash is the future
By Chris Mellor • Get more from this author
Posted in Enterprise, 26th May 2011 19:00 GMT
channelregister.co.uk
What should HDD vendors do, given that disk drive market growth is slowing because customers are buying tablets instead of notebooks and netbooks with disk drives inside?
Tablets and flash are pummelling the hard disk drive industry and, so far, it has no response, except to enter the flash market too. What else can it do? Its products have a capacity and cost/GB advantage but a terrible I/O rate disadvantage. This could be mitigated by adding another read/write had per platter - but that would also add cost.
If flash is the hammer knocking the HDD industry down, and it's inevitable because there is a secular change happening, as the financial analysts put it, then HDD vendors should put their hands firmly to the hammer and buy leading flash storage product and technology vendors like SandForce, STEC, and Violin Memory.
Don't sit on the sidelines while SanDisk gobbles up Pliant. Get in there, guys. Disruption is coming so get disrupting or get disrupted. You know this already; eat someone else's lunch or be lunch. You don't need a Harvard business school degree to see what's coming down the pike. |
