facts, figures, & findings - computer hard drive market, software piracy statistics - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

Emedia Professional, August, 1999 by Marla Misek

hard drive sales SEE-SAW, but Stay (Relatively) STRONG

Even though the storage market has fixated in recent years on the latest and greatest in CD and DVD technologies, traditional hard disk drives continue to sell. In its 1999 DISK/TREND Report on Rigid Disk Drives, DISK/TREND examines disk drive revenues in 1998--which fell 5.2 percent despite an 11.1 percent upswing in unit shipments--and forecasts a 7.7 percent jump in profits this year, with a 16.1 percent increase in shipments. Moreover, the research firm predicts that by 2002, the overall average price per megabyte for all disk drives will be $0.003, compared with $0.043 last year. (650/961-6209; http://www.disktrend.com)

two in five software applications are PIRATED, say industry WATCHDOGS

Although more than 60 percent of business software applications installed worldwide in 1998 were legally purchased, a disturbing 38 percent--nearly two in five new users--have acquired their software through piracy. According to a recent poll conducted by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), 231 of 615 million new business software applications--the equivalent of 38 percent--were pirated. The results of the poll also estimate piracy-related revenue losses at $11 billion globally, with Vietnam, China, and Indonesia posting the highest piracy rates at 97, 95, and 92 percent, respectively. Piracy in the U.S. hit 25 percent in 1998, translating to roughly $2.9 billion in losses. (BSA: 202/872-5500; http:// www.bsa.org; SIIA: 202/452-1600; http:// www.siia.net)

piracy's own "MOST WANTED" list: SIIA reveals worst OFFENDERS stateside

In other piracy news, SIIA unveiled its 1998 Global Piracy Report, which includes a list of the top ten "most wanted" metropolitan areas for software piracy in the U.S. Combined, the ten cities cited by SIIA account for almost half of the nation's $2.9 billion revenue losses last year. At the top of the list was New York, with an estimated $259 million in piracy losses, followed by Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington-Baltimore, Boston-Nashua, San Francisco-Oakland, Philadelphia-Wilmington, Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit-Ann Arbor, and Atlanta. (202/452-1600; http://www.siia.net)