External Disk Storage Systems
 
 

 
 
 
 

 

Revenue Growth Slows For External Disk Storage Systems Market Despite Strong Demand For Storage Capacity, According To IDC

IDC
December 10, 2007

According to the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Disk Storage Systems Tracker, worldwide external disk storage systems factory revenues in the third quarter of 2007 (3Q07) grew 5.1% from a year ago to $4.4B, down slightly from the three previous quarters but still marking 19 consecutive quarters of year-over-year growth. For the quarter, the total disk storage systems market grew to $6.3B up 4.3% from the prior year's quarter. Total disk storage systems capacity shipped grew 49.4% from a year-ago quarter, reaching 1.3 exabytes.

"External networked storage for open systems enjoyed healthy growth this quarter, pointing to the continuing need for solutions that help customers effectively store and manage data growth," said Brad Nisbet, program manager, IDC Storage Research. "In particular, we are seeing strong demand for NAS systems aimed at easing the pain associated with managing file based data, and an increased demand for iSCSI systems in both SMB and virtualized server environments."

 Total External Disk Storage Systems
EMC maintained its lead in the external disk storage systems market with 21.9% revenue share, followed by IBM and HP in a statistical tie for the number 2 position with 14.0% and 13.4% revenue share, respectively. Dell and Hitachi rounded out the top 5 with 9.3% and 8.5%, respectively. Among the top 5 suppliers, Dell posted the strongest year-over-year revenue growth (17.9%) during 3Q07.

 Network Disk Storage Systems
The total network disk storage market (NAS Combined with Open SAN) posted a healthy 9.7% year-over-year growth in the third quarter to $3.2B. EMC continues to maintain its leadership in the total network storage market with 27.8% revenue share, followed by HP and IBM with 13.2% and 12.3% revenue share, respectively.

In the Open SAN market, which reached $2.5B and grew 9.3% year over year, EMC was the number 1 vendor with 25.0% revenue share, followed by HP with 15.4%. The NAS market grew 11.4% year over year to $668B, led by EMC with 38.1% revenue share and followed by Network Appliance with 27.2% share. The iSCSI SAN market continues to show strong momentum, posting 43.9% revenue growth year over year, reaching $207 million in the third quarter. Network Appliance continues to lead the market with 20.5% share, followed by EMC with 18.0% share.

"Although the mid and high-end pricebands performed well, the majority of networked storage growth was driven by the low-end price bands ($0K – $14.99K)," said Liz Conner, research analyst, IDC Storage Research. "The growth of low-end networked storage is being fueled by an increased understanding and confidence among SMB users who are seeking more effective solutions to manage an increasingly complex and expanding set of requirements related to data storage."

 Total Disk Storage Systems Market
In the total worldwide disk storage systems market, IBM and HP tie for the leadership with 20.0% and 19.6% revenue share, respectively. EMC maintained the third position with 15.3% revenue share.

 Taxonomy Notes
IDC defines a Disk Storage System as a set of storage elements, including controllers, cables, and (in some instances) host bus adapters, associated with three or more disks. A system may be located outside of or within a server cabinet and the average cost of the disk storage systems does not include infrastructure storage hardware (i.e. switches) and non-bundled storage software.

The information in this quantitative study is based on a branded view of the disk storage systems sale. Revenue associated with the products to the end user is attributed to the seller (brand) of the product, not the manufacturer. Original equipment manufacturer (OEM) sales are not included in this study. In this study, Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) sales do not reflect their OEM sales to Sun Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard.

IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Disk Storage Systems Tracker is a quantitative tool for analyzing the global disk storage market on a quarterly basis. The Tracker includes quarterly shipments and revenues (both customer and factory), Terabytes, $/Gigabyte, Gigabyte/Unit, and Average Selling Value. Each criteria can be segmented by location, installation base, operating system, vendor, family, model, and region.

For more information about IDC's Worldwide Disk Storage Systems Quarterly Tracker, please contact Hoang Nguyen at 508-935-4718 or hnguyen@idc.com.

 About IDC
IDC isthe premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 900 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 90 countries worldwide. For more than 43 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. You can learn more about IDC by visiting www.idc.com.