TAIPEI (Reuters) - SanDisk Corp, the world's No.1 supplier of flash memory-based data storage cards, said it would target ultra low-cost personal computers and business-use laptop PCs to drive demand for its solid-state drives.

Solid-state drives, semiconductor-based memory devices that use NAND flash memory chips, are seen as a promising alternative to hard disk drives used in laptop PCs as they are more shock-resistant and consume less power.

A move toward solid-state drives poses a threat to hard drive makers such as Seagate Technology.

The high cost of solid-state drives compared to hard disk drives with the same memory capacity has until now hindered PC makers' shift to the flash-based drives.

But the rising popularity of smaller, cheaper PCs — designed primarily for accessing the Internet, and which do not require a large memory — is set to boost the market for flash memory-based drives, SanDisk said.

"There are more and more companies that have joined in to make such laptops for a second computer for many people," Doreet Oren, director of SanDisk's product marketing, told Reuters at Computex yesterday.

Computex, which is being held in Taipei this week, is the world's second-biggest computer show.