Ultrabooks to lead to booming cache SSD sales

One of the consequences of the burgeoning Ultrabook™ market will be the monumental growth in shipments of cache solid state drives (SSDs), according to market analysis firm IHS iSuppli.

Fewer than 1 million cache SSD units sold in 2011. By 2015, IHS iSuppli predicts that number will increase more than a hundredfold, reaching an upwards of 121 million units.

The Ultrabook will be a major driver of this growth. While traditional laptop and notebook PCs will contribute as well, the performance and form factor specifications of the Ultrabook necessitate a new type of drive be used to increase battery life and allow faster boot-up times than hard disk drives.

Cache SSD may see some competition from the hybrid hard disk drive, which also uses NAND flash, but integrates it instead with the usual DRAM cache.

IHS iSuppli has predicted near-instant success for the Ultrabook, which made a huge splash at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). According to the research firm, the Ultrabook will account for almost 40 percent of notebook sales in 2015, after representing just 2 percent in 2011.