2.5-Inch HDDs Shipments Surpass 3.5-Inch for the First Time

It’s a big change in the history of the hard disk drive history. For the first time in 3Q09, 2.5-Inch HDDs shipments surpass 3.5-inch, according to analysts of Trendfocus.

Since the first HDD (the IBM 305 Ramac in 1956 with 50 platters 24-inch in diameter), manufacturers have always tried to lower the form factors of the drives, not only to reduce the size, but to get smaller and then cheaper components. Samsung and Toshiba even launched 0.85-inch form factor devices in 1984 and 1985.

But it’s the end of this trend since several years. 1.8-inch and smaller units are disappearing and will probably never surpass 2.5-inch HDDs.

Analyst Jim Porter, now retired from Disk/Trend, help us to fill the following table: