Seagate Technology's recent purchase of Samsung Electronics' hard disk drive (HDD) business will boost Seagate 's overall standing, with combined shipments accounting for 40% of the HDD market worth 652.4 million units in 2010.

Last year , HDD shipments tallied from both Seagate and Samsung equated to 261.2 million units – enough to give the combined companies 40% of the HDD market, or a number two finish for the year. Separately, Seagate's shipment share in 2010 showed 195.2 million units, while Samsung's HDD business brought in 66 million units. Without the merger, Seagate's shipment share of market would have stood at 30%, and that of Samsung would have topped out at 10%.

Western Digital retains overall market leadership in HDDs, the primary storage medium for desktops and most notebook computers. Only one month prior to the Seagate purchase, Western Digital had made its own acquisition by purchasing Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. Western Digital's shipments of 203.7 million units, together with Hitachi's 115.8 million, coalesced to produce total 2010 shipments of 319.5 million, putting owner Western Digital at number one in the HDD space with 50% market share.

With the completion of the two mergers, the HDD battleground has been effectively whittled down to just three players from five. Left standing far behind in third place is Toshiba/Fujitsu-itself the eponymous product of a merger in 2009.

By: DocMemory
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