Fujitsu announced the new MHW2 BH series of hard disk drives (HDDs) for mobile PCs, its first 2.5" HDD offerings to incorporate perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology for enhanced storage capacity.

Two new models, the 160GB MHW2160BH, and the 80GB MHW2080BH, will go on sale worldwide from October 2006.

In addition to achieving 160GB of storage capacity through PMR technology, the new MHW2 BH series also features the industry's highest level of shock resistance and energy efficiency, according to Fujitsu. Moreover, new HDDs are the RoHS compliant.

Fujitsu has been an industry leader in the research and development of PMR technology to support capacity expansion.

In addition to the MHW2 BH series, Fujitsu will simultaneously introduce the MHW2 AT series aimed at the consumer electronics market. Primarily intended for AV and information appliances, markets that are expected to expand rapidly, this series features low-power consumption and a low acoustic noise level of 1.5 bels (15 dB) when idle. The series incorporate traditional longitudinal recording technology.

Fujitsu ranks third in 2.5" HDDs for mobile PCs, with 21% of the worldwide market share. The company also ranks number two in 3.5" HDDs for enterprise servers with 21% of the worldwide market share, accortding to an August 2006 report of Techno Systems Research. Fujitsu leads the industry in development of 2.5" Serial ATA interface HDDs, and has shipped a total of 6 million units since commencing sales in 2004.

Perpendicular Magnetic Recording technology allows magnetic charges are aligned perpendicularly on the media surface. The Longitudinal recording technology is the magnetic recording technology used in the majority of hard disk drives today. Magnetic charges are aligned on the same plane as the conductors. It is also known as surface recording.