Maxtor Corp. is reportedly boosting warranty of its hard disk drives intended for consumers from one year to three, following the similar move to stretch HDD warranty to five years from the rival Seagate Technology.

Indian web-site Channel Times reported citing sources at Maxtor Corp. that the hard disk drive and storage solutions manufacturer will extend warranty on entry-level HDDs. The company is likely to officially announce the decision by the first week of September, 2004.

Virtually all makers of hard disk drives have shrunk the warranty on HDDs intended to personal computers from three years to one since 2002. The majority of hard disks aimed at consumer PCs shipping today come with one year limited warranty, which does not satisfy some customers, who want to have more reliable storage for their data.

Manufacturers of storage devices cited the absence of necessity for three year warranties back in 2002 and 2003, claiming that potentially faulty hard disk drives would become malfunction throughout the first year of use. At the same time they said that shortened warranties are likely to reduce the support cost, which may have an effect on HDD pricing.

Three well-known companies – IBM, Quantum and Fujitsu – either sold or just suspended their HDD business in 2002. In the mid- and late-nineties a number of other companies, such as Conner, also either ceased to exist or shelved storage businesses.

Rapid technology development amid fierce competition in the field of storage are also among the most important factors that forced HDD makers to trim their warranty services earlier, it looks like with Seagate’s announcement the trend reverses and manufacturers of storage products for consumers will offer HDDs with longer support.

With two makers of HDDs extending warranty on their products other storage companies are likely to announce the same decisions.