Gartner Says Worldwide External Controller-Based Disk Storage Market Grew 9 Percent in First Quarter 2006

Business Wire, June 5, 2006

STAMFORD, Conn. -- Worldwide external controller-based (ECB) disk storage revenue totaled $3.8 billion in first quarter 2006, an 8.6 percent increase over the same period last year, according to Gartner, Inc.

IBM took over the No. 2 position in the first quarter 2006, and Hewlett-Packard slipped into third place (see Table 1). IBM's worldwide ECB market share increased to 12.7 percent, while HP's market share totaled 12.4 percent. EMC maintained the No. 1 spot, finishing the quarter with 24.1 percent market share. Hitachi/HDS maintained its No. 4 ranking with a 9.2 percent share of the market, despite a slight decline over the same period last year. Dell maintained its lead over NetApp with 7.5 and 7 percent market shares, respectively. Sun Microsystems remained in the No. 7 spot with 6 percent market share.

"Although Sun experienced the strongest growth year-over-year among the top-tier vendors, with 29.8 percent revenue growth, Sun's growth was primarily a result of its recent acquisition of StorageTek in the third quarter of last year," said Donna Taylor, principal analyst for Gartner's global Storage Quarterly Statistics program. "While NetApp and Dell showed organic revenue growth of 25.1 and 22.3 percent, these figures represent a slowdown in revenue growth for both vendors from the same period last year."

Table 1

Worldwide External Controller-Based Disk Storage Vendor Revenue
Estimates for 1Q06

(Millions of U.S. Dollars)

                                  1Q06   1Q06    1Q05   1Q05    1Q05-
Company                         Revenue Market Revenue Market   1Q06
                                        Share          Share   Revenue
                                         (%)            (%)     Change
                                                                  (%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
EMC *                            915.4   24.1   814.0   23.3     12.5
IBM                              482.7   12.7   430.7   12.3     12.1
Hewlett-Packard **               469.7   12.4   505.5   14.4     -7.1
Hitachi/HDS ***                  349.0    9.2   372.0   10.6     -6.2
Dell                             283.4    7.5   231.6    6.6     22.3
NetApp                           264.9    7.0   211.7    6.1     25.1
Sun Microsystems                 227.9    6.0   175.6    5.0     29.8
Others                           806.5   21.2   758.0   21.7      6.4
Total                          3,799.6  100.0 3,499.1  100.0      8.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Note * EMC revenue excludes OEM revenue from Dell and Fujitsu Siemens.

Note ** HP's 2005 market statistics reflect new, updated XP series
revenue and EVA series revenue and unit guidance.

Note *** Hitachi/HDS revenue excludes OEM revenue from HP and Sun
Microsystems.

Source: Gartner Dataquest (June 2006)

Sales in IBM's DS4000 and DS8000 Series year-over-year contributed to its increase in market share. Although buoyed by its recent StorageTek acquisition, Sun Microsystems experienced organic growth via its midrange and data center storage systems.

Gartner external controller-based disk storage reports reflect hardware only revenue, as well as hardware revenue associated with financial leases and managed services. Optional storage software revenue and Storage Area Network (SAN) infrastructure components are excluded.

Additional information on the ECB disk storage market is available in the Gartner Dataquest report "Market Share: Disk Array Storage, All Regions, All Countries, 1Q05-1Q06". The report includes vendor market share by data access method, price band, channel and operating system segmentation. The report is available on Gartner's Web site at http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?ref=g_search&id=489614.

Gartner analysts will provide more detailed analysis on the state of the storage industry at the Gartner Storage Summit 2006, at the Gaylord Palms Hotel and Convention Center in Kissimmee, Florida, June 12-15. Additional information on the Summit is available at www.gartner.com/us/storage.> About Gartner

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) delivers the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. Gartner serves 10,000 organizations, including chief information officers and other senior IT executives in corporations and government agencies, as well as technology companies and the investment community. The Company consists of Gartner Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has 3,900 associates, including 1,200 research analysts and consultants in 75 countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.