Samsung is to drop its 1.8-inch hard disks to put its energies into solid state drives, according to a number of internet reports.

Digitimes reported that Samsung had suspended its development of HDD to change its focus to the SSD market, according its sources named only as notebook makers in Taiwan.

Several news sites are now reporting the move by the electronics company, which would leave Toshiba as the only manufacturer of the 1.8 inch HDDs.

The site said: "1.8-inch drives can save space and are recommended by Intel for ultra-thin notebooks or netbooks. The shortage could trigger a price increase hampering notebook and netbook shipments for several vendors in third quarter 2009."

IT PRO contacted Samsung but it had not returned its request for comment at the time of publication.

SSD is becoming more and more prevalent in the market with Seagate announcing last week it will be releasing SSD products in the future and the chief executive of EMC, Joe Tucci claiming SSD will change the face of the industry.

However, affordable netbooks have been keeping the industry afloat during the economic downturn as PC sales continue to drop so if prices rise it could be problematic for manufacturers.