The market is definitely looking brighter for solid-state discs (SSDs). More and more manufacturers are beginning to embrace flash as a suitable alternative to traditional hard disc drives (HDDs) and device manufacturers are increasingly putting them in their mobile products.

NAND flash, which was once relegated to memory cards used in digital cameras and portable media players like the iPod, is now finding its way in larger capacities and faster operating speeds in UMPCs and notebook computers.

SanDisk recently announced a new 2.5" 32GB SSD destined for notebooks and Samsung countered with 1.8" 64GB SSD of its own offering read/write speeds of 65MB/sec and 45MB/sec respectively.

The lower weight, higher transfer speeds, lower power requirements and silent operation coupled with dropping flash prices has enticed Fujitsu to halt development of its 1.8" HDDs. The company reports that more portable device manufacturers are asking for solid-state storage instead.

Falling prices for 2.5" HDDs have hurt Fujitsu's profit margins, so it's no surprise that it is looking to NAND flash to increase its bottom line. "We want to see if the market tips toward flash, or if it stays with hard drives," said Masao Sakamoto, a Fujitsu spokesman.