Toshiba Storage Device Division (SDD) on Monday formally introduced the world’s highest-capacity 2.5” hard disk drive. The company used perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology to leave its competitors behind in terms of capacity, the company said.

“Our technology innovation in PMR has laid the foundation for delivering the industry's highest capacity and areal density in the standard mobile drive form factor. It's a win-win combination for mobile PC manufacturers who want to differentiate their offerings with features that attract high-end consumers,” said Scott Maccabe, vice president and general manager, Toshiba SDD.

The 200GB dual-platter MK2035GSS is Toshiba’s first PMR drive to incorporate tunnel magneto-resistive recording (TMR) head technology, according to the company. Toshiba’s new 2.5” HDD weighs 98 grams, features 4200rpm motors, 8MB cache, uses the Serial ATA (SATA) II interface with native command queuing. According to the manufacturer, the HDD’s average seek time is 12ms.

As of Q3 2005, Toshiba had 29% market share in mobile HDD shipments (2.5” and smaller form-factors), according to IDC research firm.

Toshiba will start mass production for the 2.5-inch 200GB MK2035GSS HDD in August 2006. The company will showcase the new HDD at Computex in Taipei, Taiwan, June 6-10, 2006.