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Seagate Will Stop Production of 7200RPM Hard Drives To Focus on SSDs

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News Posted: Sun, Mar 3 2013 10:14 AM
We've long since wondered when SSDs would hit a price (and size) threshold that most mainstream consumers would opt for one over a conventional HDD. We're still a few years out from that, we imagine, but you can see the writing on the wall. Seagate, one of the world's largest storage companies, already has a mind to kill off the 2.5" (laptop-sized) 7200RPM hard drive from its portfolio. Why? Flash storage is taking off in a major way for portables, while desktops still seem to favor slow-but-huge in many cases. Moreover, the introduction of the hybrid HDD (part flash, part HDD) has made getting a taste of flash a little cheaper.


David Burks, director of marketing and product management at Seagate Technology, was quoted as saying the following: "We are going stop building our notebook 7200rpm hard disk drives at the end of 2013." These high-level product managers are responsible for looking way out into the future in order to shape ongoing product ranges, and this is almost certainly going to spark a trend where HDD makers begin to phase those out in favor of flash-based alternatives.

Many laptops, like the MacBook Air, only ship with a flash-based option. As nice as HDDs have been, you won't find us crying about their death. Long live flash storage!
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MubiruHudson replied on Sun, Mar 3 2013 10:50 AM

ohh why?

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Dave_HH replied on Sun, Mar 3 2013 11:54 AM

Because, with notebooks and other mobile devices, SSDs are a much better solution and cost-wise it's becoming less prohibitive.

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CDeeter replied on Sun, Mar 3 2013 12:06 PM

I understand your point Dave, but why not get rid of the slower 5400 rpm drives instead? At this point, the cost difference between the two can't be that much. So wouldn't it make more sense to keep the better performing one?

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KurtScatchard replied on Sun, Mar 3 2013 12:06 PM

why stop?.. produce them both

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HopePonsLail replied on Sun, Mar 3 2013 2:23 PM

I don't believe this will be a good business model, corporations and institutions with limited funds are not going to spend the extra cash for the minor performance increase vs price increase that an ssd drive offers, more storage space still goes a long way with most business users storage space that is loads cheaper in a good old mechanical hd

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sevags replied on Sun, Mar 3 2013 4:46 PM

I'm crying over their death!!!! Sure I was hoping along with everyone else that HDD's would get a speed bump to 10kRPM's after WD came out with the Raptor series but that never happened. SSD's are still too expensive with large amounts of storage, their life spans aren't as long, and too many horror stories with failed drives. On top of all that seat are happens to be my favorite 3.5" 7200rpm HDD maker.

Another sad day.

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CDeeter replied on Sun, Mar 3 2013 6:44 PM

So true, I just don't understand the HDD manufacturers holding onto 5400 rpm drives so long. 7200 has been around for long enough that it should be the standard speed, with 10k being the premium speed.

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realneil replied on Sun, Mar 3 2013 8:30 PM

7200-RPM drives use much more power, thus they keep sticking people with 5400-RPM drives to make their Laptop's batteries work longer.

SSD's use even less power, and what a change they make to an old laptop!

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.

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Joseph Pianta replied on Sun, Mar 3 2013 11:09 PM

For laptops fine... I've been waiting for these guys to finally get on the speed bandwagon. the hybrid drives were an ok step. A Fusion drive is an even better option. I've yet to build one in my iMac but I did replace the optical drive with a 256GB SSD. Next is the speed increase on a large drive. The HDD is the biggest bottle neck right now in the PC.

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CDeeter replied on Mon, Mar 4 2013 7:24 AM

Hmm, I didn't think it was that large of a difference, but I suppose that could be a reason.

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