WD®, a  Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC) company, and SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK), a  global leader in flash memory storage solutions, today announced that the two  companies are collaborating to introduce hybrid storage devices that feature  best-in-class flash memory technology from SanDisk and best-in-class hard drive  technology from WD. 

      SanDisk is supplying a SanDisk iSSD™  storage device for the WD Black™ solid state hybrid drive (SSHD), the world’s  thinnest 2.5-inch SSHD solution, which utilizes both WD proprietary hybrid  technology and industry standard SATA IO technology. The SanDisk iSSD brings an  elegant balance of performance, low power consumption, cost, reliability, and a  compact form factor to this SSHD, which will offer ample storage to meet  consumers’ growing appetite for digital content as well as flash-enabled speed,  data throughput and responsiveness – all within ultra-slim form factors.

     “I am delighted for SanDisk to team up  with WD on these exciting new hybrid products,” said Kevin Conley, senior vice  president and general manager of client storage solutions at SanDisk. “By  combining SanDisk’s unparalleled flash memory expertise and technology with the  hard drive know-how of WD, WD Black SSHDs offer outstanding hard drive-like  capacity, and the slim form factor and the level of performance that you will  only get with flash memory solutions.”  

     “Working with SanDisk, WD realized our  vision for products that combine the best of both technologies,” said Matt  Rutledge, vice president of client computing at WD. “WD’s SSHDs are a  significant achievement in the continuing SSHD/flash storage revolution.”

About WD Black Solid State  Hybrid Drives

     WD Black SSHDs use WD hybrid technology  that blends responsive, intelligent flash memory technology from SanDisk with high  capacity hard drives from WD. This powerful combination greatly improves the PC  user experience, enabling both high capacity and a higher level of performance  than traditional hard disk drives, including increased speed, instant-on and  faster application launching.

     With device volume being a key concern for  PC manufacturers who want to design slimmer devices, the WD Black SSHDs are designed  to accommodate integration into the market’s thinnest notebooks. The WD Black 5mm  SSHD offers 500GB of capacity, while utilizing almost 50 percent less volume  than current standard notebook hard drives (which are approximately 9.5mm). The  low-profile of the solid state hybrid drive is complemented by the extremely  small form factor of the SanDisk iSSD, which is built on 19 nanometer (nm)  process technology, the world's smallest and most advanced semiconductor  manufacturing process. The WD Black 5mm SSHDs are shipping to OEMs. WD  is also currently shipping to OEMs ultra-slim, 7mm and 9.5mm SSHDs for portable  devices.