Seagate will cease production of 7200 rounds per minute (RPM) mobile 2.5" hard disk drives (HDDs) at the end of this year. A spokesman of the company has said this to the website Xbitlabs. The spokesman states that consumers prefer SSDs or hybrid HDDs (a combination of a HDD and SSD) over traditional hard disks. The company will continue to manufacturer 5400 RPM drives for budget laptops.
HDDs that spin at 7200 RPM perform better than 5400 RPM drives but are still much slower than SSDs or hybrid disks. Consumers are demanding higher speeds and better battery performance which makes them pick laptops that contain SSDs or hybrid solutions. Seagate thinks that consumers looking for large capacities or a cheap device will be satisfied with 5400 RPM drives as the performance difference isn't important to them.
When it comes to mobile drives, Seagate will focus on Solid State Hybrid Drives (SSHDs) of which it will introduce its third generation later this year. These SSHDs will be positioned as large capacity and high performance drives. Seagate will continue to produce the 7200 RPM drives till the end of this year, availability might be longer due to stocks at distributors and shops.
