Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc., a supplier of computer products, announced Monday that it would ship 250GB and 300GB hard disk drives (HDDs) for mobile computers in the first quarter of 2007. The new drives not only offer the world’s largest capacity for 2.5” form-factor HDDs today, but will also become the most spacious at the time of actual shipments.

“Due to our strong focus on innovation, Fujitsu remains at the forefront in promoting advanced technologies such as perpendicular recording and SATA, while at the same time continuing to meet the industry’s insatiable demand for high-capacity products,” said Joel Hagberg, vice president, marketing and business development, Fujitsu Computer Products of America.

Fujitsu’s new MHX2300BT-series hard drives will be available in 250GB and 300GB capacities and will be equipped with 4200rpm motors. The new mobile HDDs will support Serial ATA interface with native command queuing (NCQ) capability. Besides providing industry leading capacities, the new Fujitsu MHX2300BT-series also consume just about 1.6W when operating and about 0.5W when idle.

“Our commitment to R&D has not only spurred the development of the industry’s first 2.5” 300GB capacity perpendicular hard disk drive, but it will allow Fujitsu to continue to achieve these aggressive milestones in advance of the rest of the industry,” Mr. Hagberg said.

Rivals of Fujitsu, such as Seagate Technology, only plan to start supplying 250GB hard disk drives for mobile computers in 2.5” form-factor only in the second half of 2007. Those drives, however, will feature data encryption technology as well as large flash cache, whereas Fujitsu’s new MHX2300BT will not offer those capabilities.