Solid State Drive (SSD) usage in netbooks could soon be a thing of the past according to Register Hardware. This theory comes after Asian market watcher, DRAMeXchange, reported that the percentage of SSDs shipping with netbooks has dropped heavily in 2008 and is likely to fall even further in 2009.

DRAMeXchange’s research revealed that in the first quarter of this year, 70% of netbooks came with an SSD. Then in Q2 2008, that number dropped to 66%, and finally in Q3 2008, it slumped to just 33%. This quarter isn’t over yet, but the forecast is even bleaker for SSDs-with-netbooks, with the percentage expected to drop to 20%. Looking ahead to 2009, the figure is set to drop to 10% in Q1 ‘09, and come this time next year, it is likely to hit 8%.

This is an unexpected turn of events as SSDs and netbooks seem like a good couple. But if the predicted slump continues, which seems to be an inevitability, it looks like SSDs will be on the way out and HDDs will be the only option.