One of the main challenges in reducing the thickness of current 7mm hard disk drives by almost 30% without compromising on its performance and stability is its spindle motor design.

ENGADGET: A*STAR unveils 5mm-thick hybrid hard drive, touts affordability and improved energy efficiency

Will the current shortage of hard disk drives, the result of the recent severe flooding in Thailand, lead to a glut of PC chip inventory?

FORBES: Intel: Will Drive Shortage Create Inventory Issue?

Evercore Partners analyst Kirk Materne this afternoon trimmed his EPS estimates for Microsoft for the next couple of quarters to reflect the current shortage of hard-disk drives that has resulted from the recent Thai floods, plus lower gross margin assumptions to reflect increased investment in services and online and a greater revenue contribution from the entertainment and devices segment.

FORBES: Microsoft: Evercore Trims Estimates For HDD Shortage

Even though adding disks and heads increases the cost of the hard disk drive, in the current environment of higher HDD prices due to shortages from the Thailand floods of 2011 gives some additional leeway for higher prices to pay for the additional components.

FORBES: More Storage Means More Disks

It appears the major sticking point concerns the depth of the memory layer on which data is written: HD-DVD favors a data layer 0.6mm beneath the surface of the disk, the same depth as on the current generation of DVDs.

ENGADGET: DVD format war: Matsushita says Toshiba needs to give up

Millions of times larger than even current macho spreadsheets can handle, or could be stored on the biggest disk you can jam in your PC (now about 3 Terabytes).

FORBES: Nate Silver And The Power Of Small Data

Meanwhile, Credit Suisse analyst John Pitzer late yesterday wrote in a research note that the company is likely to post October quarter results below expectations, and to provide January quarter guidance below current estimates, due largely to fallout from the severe flooding in Thailand, which has severely curtailed production in the disk-drive sector.

FORBES: Marvell: JMP Downgrades; Others Trims Estimates