Hitachi Global Storage Technologies recently announced its plans to deliver the world’s smallest hard drive that measures 1" with 8GB of storage. Hitachi has also unveiled a 1.8" drive with shock protection technology that assess the hard drive while its falling and parks the head from the disk to prevent it from getting scratched. The shock protection technology allows the hard drive to recognize a drop from as little as 4" above the ground in order to make it safer for cell phones.

Although Hitachi did not disclose pricing of its 1" and 1.8" units, industry analysts believe the prices to be fairly reasonable due to falling prices.

Hitachi’s main competitor with tiny drives is Seagate and its microdrives. Seagate began shipping its microdrives in July to an undisclosed list of customers. Hitachi didn’t disclose the list of its customers either, but confirmed it has buyers that are interested in its tiny drives.

According to industry reports, mobile device makers are an emerging group of customers interested in smaller drives. "We are seeing the evolution of the consumer electronics device into a fashion statement," said Larry Swezey, Deputy General Manager, Mobile Hard Drive Business, Hitachi referring to cell phone makers as one of the customer groups demanding tiny hard drives for upcoming models.

Hitachi’s 1.8" drives are expected to ship sometime this month while the 1" are expected to ship in October.