We reported the other day that SSD usage with netbooks is facing possible extinction, with the amount of SSDs shipping with netbooks sinking fast and expected to plummet down to just 8% this time next year.

Now, the DigiTimes has more potentially bad news for the future of SSDs with netbooks. Seagate Technology, Western Digital and Hitachi Global Storage Technologies are answering calls from PC vendors for cheaper hard disk drives, which are used in most netbooks currently on the market. Industry sources in Taiwan claim the companies are planning to release a range of new 2.5-inch HDDs that will cost a whopping 40-50% less than current 2.5-inch HDDs used in netbooks and discount PCs.

The expected availability of low cost 2.5-inch HDDs could of course make netbooks cheaper to buy, but it also means bad news for the likes of Samsung Electronics, Toshiba and Intel, and their promotion of SSDs.