Samsung wants SSDs for everyone

We all know the importance that three little words can carry. Sure, Samsung didn't proclaim its love to us. But truth be told, we probably prefer their message of "SSDs for everyone" anyway. Unfortunately (and understandably) the South Korean company doesn't intend to give them to us for free.

The announcement mostly drowned in last week's top news. The implication that the dominance of HDDs may come to an end is not new but will still be hard to live up to. Samsung itself estimates that only 10% of notebooks sold in 2013 will be equipped with SSDs.

The main reason for this is rather simple: HDDs are vastly cheaper than SSDs. We are talking about a third of the cost. This huge difference may shrink considerably in the near future. Scott Wasson of The Tech Report claims, "The amount of storage you can get per dollar roughly doubles every couple of years." In his opinion the irrational cost-sensitivity of OEMs is the main reason for the high price.

Joel Santo Domingo of PC Magazine however believes that people will make more use of virtual storage like dropbox and others. He also points to the increase of streaming solutions for music instead of users storing vast amounts of mp3s on their computers. These solutions however depend on the quality and availability of internet.

In his mind people will get spoiled by mobile devices that feature quick start-up times. These factors may lead to a new understanding of quality in storage devices. Speed may become more important than sheer size. It all comes down to personal preference when pitting SSDs vs. HDDs.

While Samsung's announcement may not become a reality in the next few years, we may still notice a shift towards SSDs. A major criterion is the mindset of users. Can they be convinced that a smaller Solid State Drive is preferable to a larger but slower HDD?

Source(s)