The adoption of solid state drives (SSDs) for IPC storage continued to increase rapidly throughout 2008 and 2009.  The storage capacity of SSDs is approaching a level close to that of hard disk drives (HDDs), with SSD prices falling more quickly.  

A new market report from IMS Research, focused on the world market for IPCs, identified a clear trend towards the adoption of SSDs.  Over a short time period SSD prices and the capacity gap with HDDs have quickly decreased, giving machine builders and end users a viable storage alternative to HDDs.

IMS Research Senior Analyst, Mark Watson, commented “SSDs now offer similar levels of storage capacity to a HDD, but without the rotating parts that can become vulnerable in environments where vibration is common.  The higher level of reliability offered by SSDs has made them a popular choice for critical applications.”

He continues, “SSDs are currently more expensive than HDDs but, whereas HDDs have little room for prices to fall further, SSD prices have decreased significantly over the last 2 years.  A 16GB SSD would have cost an IPC manufacturer approximately $200 in 2007; in 2009, the same component would have cost closer to $50.”

It is likely that SSDs will become the standard storage solution for IPCs within the next 10 years!