Mature But Fueled by Transformation, Worldwide Disk Storage Systems Capacity Shipments Will Experience a 2006-2011 CAGR Nearing 60%, IDC Reveals

Business Wire, May 15, 2007

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- The worldwide disk storage systems market is mature but continues to be transformed, being impacted by the way storage is used, what role it plays in the corporate, legal and public worlds, and by the technologies that come to market. With a 2006-2011 compound annual growth rate (CAGR) nearing 60%, the worldwide disk storage systems capacity shipments will remain strong and create a full and deep pool of opportunities, IDC believes.

"Storage system OEMs will be thrilled with new opportunities generated by explosive growth in fixed content and data protection initiatives, by user concerns about data management and regulatory compliance, and by demand for more efficient energy consumption and data reduction tools," said Natalya Yezhkova, research manager for IDC's Storage Systems research.

"The challenge for industry participants will be to provide the right features at the right costs so that end-user requirements are at least met, if not exceeded," added Dave Reinsel, program director for Storage research at IDC. "Near-term, technology transitions will consume storage purchasing decisions. Long-term, the focus will shift to cost- and storage-efficiencies."

Other key dynamics on the market include:

* Double-digit growth in capacity shipments will be balanced by dropping prices per gigabyte of storage. As a result, revenue growth will be slowing down year over year, reaching $31 billion in 2011.

* Terabyte shipments of capacity-optimized storage systems will overpass performance-optimized systems and account for nearly two-thirds of overall capacity shipped in 2011.

* ISCSI SAN will remain the fastest growing interconnect segment of the market representing a quarter of the external disk storage systems market revenue in 2011.

IDC's study, Worldwide Disk Storage Systems 2007-2011 Forecast and Analysis: Mature, but Still Growing and Changing, (IDC #206662) provides a forecast for worldwide disk storage systems market for 2007-2011 as well as a discussion of assumptions and major market trends.

To purchase this document, call IDC's Sales hotline at 508-988-7988 or email sales@idc.com.

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