Avian, a brokerage firm whose research covers the high-tech and aerospace industries, said that an unnamed large manufacturer is seeing <A HREF="http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,143558-pg,1/article.html">return rates of 20 to 30 percent on SSD-based notebooks,</A> thanks to failures and performance issues.

Laptops with flash memory-based solid state drives (SSDs) are being returned at an alarming rate because of technical failures and performance shortcomings, according to a study released this week by Avian Securities.

Returns due to technical failure ran at 10 to 20 percent, 10 times higher than failure rates for conventional drives, the report said.