300-303 mln hard drives will be sold in 2004

Demand for the 2.5-inch drives used in notebooks is expected to climb by 25% in 2004, reported Trend/Focus, while the opportunity that consumer-electronic shipments represents will surpass 30 mln units, an 85% growth rate. Drive shipments during 2004 should come in at an even 300 mln units, roughly 40 mln higher than in 2003. Thomas Weisel Partners LLC forecasts that 303.14 mln drives will be sold in 2004, pulling in $23.8 bln in revenue