Apple drives SSD market
The solid state drive market is doing well and it largely has Apple to thank. SSDs, which use microchips to hold data as opposed to the spinning disks of traditional hard disk drives, have become the storage unit of choice for the computer and technology giant. SSDs, which are sometimes referred to as flash storage, are noted for being quieter and faster than HDDs.
Apple uses SSDs for a number of its products. One of the most notable is the recently launched MacBook Air. The lightweight, super-thin laptop features “instant on” technology, which powers up the system as soon as it is opened. The MacBook Air also features a longer battery lifespan. Both of these features are the result of SSD, which Apple places directly onto the computer’s motherboard. The extra space allows for more batteries, and SSDs’ faster speeds allow the computer to quickly turn on.
The effectiveness of SSD in the MacBook Air has led to rumors that the MacBook Pro line will also soon feature the hard drives. Multiple sources claim the MacBook Pro will feature up to 512 GB of SSD storage.
“The new MacBook Pros will move to solid state storage, up to 512GB, [and] remove the optical drive,” said tech watchdog website Three Guys and a Podcast. It should be noted that Apple has not confirmed any details regarding the MacBook Pro.
Regardless, Apple has good reason to support SSDs, considering they have been featured in some of their most popular products. According to a recent survey, Apple’s iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone are among the most in-demand holiday gift items for kids aged 6-to-12, as well as kids 13 and older. The iPad is the most popular item with the younger demographic, with 31 percent of kids aged 6-to-12 expressing interest in the tablet computer. The iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone all use SSD storage.
The iPad has been particularly successful. According to Gartner research, the tablet computer is eating into the PC market. The firm forecasts that 352.4 million PCs will be sold this year, 11 million fewer than its original forecast.
"Over the longer term, media tablets are expected to displace around 10 percent of PC units by 2014," said Gartner research director Ranjit Atwal. Atwal says the forecasts show "expectations of weaker consumer demand, due in no small part to growing user interest in media tablets such as the iPad".
The iPad has dominated tablet computer sales. IPads currently hold 95 percent of the tablet computer market share. It has even cut into sales of e-readers. According to recent reports, iPad’s e-reader market share doubled between August and November 2010, while Amazon’s Kindle fell from 62 percent to 47 percent.
With SSD being such a successful component in its products, Apple has been very protective of the technology. Recently, Apple blocked Taiwanese hardware company PhotoFast from creating and selling 256 GB SSD upgrades for MacBook Air laptops. According to 9to5mac.com, Apple asked PhotoFast to stop selling upgrades around Thanksgiving. The company complied, not wishing to risk its MFi license to make accessories for Apple products.
With Apple having such success with tablets and SSD, other companies are following similar models. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablet also uses SSD storage. This should not come as a surprise, as Samsung is also a major manufacturer of SSDs. It recently launched a new line of 256 GB SSDs.
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