WD starts volume production of perpendicular recording 80GB per platter HDDs

Western Digital today announced it is in volume production of its next-generation WD Scorpio(TM) 2.5-inch hard drives using WD-designed and -manufactured perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology to achieve 80 GB-per-platter areal density.

"The rising use of mobile and CE devices with rich digital content such as video, music and photos, along with the continued expansion of corporate data generation, is driving the need for highly reliable, high capacity hard drives of all form factors," said John Coyne, WD's president and chief operating officer. "WD's implementation of PMR technology in a mobile application, our fastest-growing high-volume market, expands capacities for these storage-hungry applications. These new high-density drives also are an outcome of our focused R&D investments over recent years that will bring high value to our customers worldwide."