Fujitsu will start producing 1.8-inch hard disks through a partnership with Cornice, a US manufacturer of small format hard drives for consumer electronics devices.
A small sized hard drive will lead to Fujitsu entering a market that is currently dominated by Toshiba. The company will start by developing a 120Gb model that is scheduled for release by 2007.
Small hard drives are widely deployed in portable media players such as the iPod. Other applications include digital video cameras and ultra portable notebook computers.
Apple's iPod uses a 1.8 inch hard drive made by Toshiba. The iPod mini featured a 1 inch drive from Hitachi, but Apple last October discontinued the model and replaced it with the iPod Nano that uses flash memory for storage. Current generation 1-inch drives offer up to 8Gb in storage capacity.
Fujitsu already makes 2.5 and 3.5-inch drives for desktop computers and enterprise servers, as well as special 2.5-inch models for notebook computers.
The manufacturer also said it would further develop its 2.5 and 3.5-inch drives, promising to launch new high-speed and high-capacity models before April 2007.
Fujitsu also plans to start shipping a 200Gb drive for laptop computers before April 2007 to meet the demand for media-centric notebooks.
A small sized hard drive will lead to Fujitsu entering a market that is currently dominated by Toshiba. The company will start by developing a 120Gb model that is scheduled for release by 2007.
Small hard drives are widely deployed in portable media players such as the iPod. Other applications include digital video cameras and ultra portable notebook computers.
Apple's iPod uses a 1.8 inch hard drive made by Toshiba. The iPod mini featured a 1 inch drive from Hitachi, but Apple last October discontinued the model and replaced it with the iPod Nano that uses flash memory for storage. Current generation 1-inch drives offer up to 8Gb in storage capacity.
Fujitsu already makes 2.5 and 3.5-inch drives for desktop computers and enterprise servers, as well as special 2.5-inch models for notebook computers.
The manufacturer also said it would further develop its 2.5 and 3.5-inch drives, promising to launch new high-speed and high-capacity models before April 2007.
Fujitsu also plans to start shipping a 200Gb drive for laptop computers before April 2007 to meet the demand for media-centric notebooks.