Intel & Hitachi Partner On SSD Development

Given how well Intel's mainstream and enterprise solid-state drives are doing, you wouldn't think they'd need to partner up with anybody to move forward.  Still, there have to be benefits from getting cosy with Hitachi, the world's third-largest hard-drive manufacturer.  The two companies have announced a partnership to jointly-develop SSDs.

Under the terms of the agreement, Intel will manufacture SSDs that the pair have designed while Hitachi will sell them.  The first shipments are expected in 2010, and will be targeted at business use such as servers and storage systems.

Hitachi will still continue to develop traditional platter-based hard-drives, which it maintains are more suited to large-volume data applications.  It's unclear whether Intel will continue to develop and market its own SSD range.