Seagate Technology in the third quarter padded its customary domination of the global hard disk drive (HDD) market and established an early lead in next-generation perpendicular recording technology, according to research firm iSuppli.

"Amid strong global growth for HDDs in the third quarter, Seagate outgrew the market with a 16.4% increase in unit shipments compared to the second quarter," said Krishna Chander, senior analyst for storage at iSuppli. "In comparison, global HDD shipments increased by only 15.7% during the same period. Meanwhile, about 10% of Seagate HDDs sold during the quarter used perpendicular recording technology, making the company the volume leader in this emerging sector."