Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) plans to strengthen its market position in the PC and notebook markets. The company is also gearing up for the consumer electronics market this year. DigiTimes talked with vice president and general manager for the Asia-Pacific region, Pete Andreyev, about future prospects for the hard disc drive (HDD) market. Q: With such a variety of portable devices, which product will become a boon to the slim-type HDD market?

A: Based on individual product penetration rates, MP3 players should offer a real growth potential, starting from the second half of this year. Market applications in the smartphone and digital video system markets will likely take over the mainstream spot in 2005.

Total slim-type drive shipments will benefit from surging MP3 players worldwide, supported by international vendors, including Apple Computer, Creative Technology, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Philips and Sony. Shipments are likely to jump to five million units this year, up five-fold from one million in 2003. With an 80% share of the global market, Hitachi GST expects it will ship four million units this year, including slim-type drives for MP3 players, which should reach around three million units by year-end.

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