Toshiba Information Equipment Philippines, Inc. (TIEPI) announced the plan in a notice published on Monday. The notice also indicated the approval of the plan by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) and an application for tax perks entitled to pioneering ventures.

TIEPI claims that the 1.8-inch perpendicular HDD is a new product used in MP3 players, notebooks, automotive jukebox systems, and portable handheld GPS units. The storage device uses Toshiba's Perpendicular Magnetic Recording technology to make it lighter and with higher capacity.

Approval of tax perks will give TIEPI six years of income tax holiday. Currently, it already enjoys a lower 5 percent income tax on gross income and duty-free importation of equipment.

TIEPI invested $2.6 million to put up the flash disks plant at the Laguna Techno Park in February 2009. The expansion of the plant's operation is aimed at meeting a predicted higher demand for the storage device.