Seagate has announced to enter into SSD market next year, so we’re wondering how its biggest competitor will react about this. As one of the biggest makers of hard drives, it’s easy to understand Western Digital is trying to protect its investment in traditional HDD market, and waiting till SSD market is mature and clear.

Western Digital Marketing Senior VP Richard Rutledge says they haven’t quitted entering SSD market – they’re just waiting for the appropriate opportunity. Western Digital will introduce high-end and low-end SSDs to meet different demands of consumers. The low-end SSDs are expected to be sold at $33, used in phones, cameras and partial netbooks. High-end SSDs will be available for the users who demand high performance at $199.

Rutledge remarks that “SSD is undoubtedly superior in performance, but its writing times and lifespan are limited. Though HHD’s speed is slow, it is safe and durable. There will be a new-style consumer mobile platform (Rutledge named it as ‘smartbook’) coming between smartphone and netbooks, with bigger screen than smartphone (7-9 inch) and smaller than netbooks. Such a device would be sold at $200 to $300.”

For now, Western Digital chooses to be waiting. When SSD market becomes clearer and they find it profitable, they would never be silent any more.