IBM Disk Storage Systems Achieve Double Digit Growth Rate Worldwide, According to Leading Research Firm

Market Wire, September, 2005

IBM today announced that it has gained share and achieved double digit revenue growth worldwide in overall disk storage systems, according to the latest quarterly storage tracker results from IDC [1].

Led by 13.4 percent year-over-year growth in worldwide external disk storage systems revenue for the second quarter of 2005, IBM's disk storage systems year-over-year growth in revenue was higher than that of three of the top six storage vendors [2]. Additionally, IBM was one of only three of the top five storage vendors to achieve double digit growth and gain share overall in disk storage systems.

"These results from IDC show that IBM's disk storage systems business continues to gain share and we are proud that customers around the world are widely adopting IBM's latest disk storage offerings," said Barry Rudolph, Vice President, Disk Storage, IBM. "IBM -- not EMC -- is one of just three of the top five vendors to achieve double-digit, year-over-year growth in the second quarter. As the recognized worldwide leader in tape storage solutions, an industry leader in storage virtualization solutions, and with strong growth in disk storage systems, IBM is leading the charge in the industry. IBM is the leading vendor in the industry, offering comprehensive storage and information solutions that customers seek today to help them implement an information on demand environment."

In both North America and the Asia-Pacific region, IBM's revenue for external disk storage systems each grew by double digits, outpacing the segment's overall growth rate in those regions. In addition, IBM posted the largest positive share gains of any major disk storage vendors in those regions.

--  In North America , where industry revenue grew 9.8 percent overall,
    IBM's external disk storage systems revenue growth rate was 20.6 percent
    year-over-year;
--  And in the Asia-Pacific region (including Japan) which grew 6 percent,
    IBM's external disk storage systems revenue growth was 28.7 percent year-
    over-year.
    

About Information on Demand

The desire by businesses to access, manage, deliver, secure and store information more efficiently is driving rapid change in the IT marketplace. Traditional low-tech, hardware-only approaches by proprietary vendors are meeting with resistance as companies grappling with new government mandates and business demands strive to capture and integrate information in a more seamless, real-time fashion across the enterprise. IBM's information on demand approach combines deep business insight with open standards, advanced storage systems, and sophisticated software for information, security and IT system management to create cost effective and flexible information infrastructures. Regardless of industry, IBM helps companies transform data into insight to enable information on demand.

About IBM

IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. Drawing on resources from across IBM and key IBM Business Partners, IBM offers a wide range of services, solutions and technologies that help enable customers, large and small, to take full advantage of the new era of e-business on demand. For more information about IBM, visit http://www.ibm.com.

[1] Source: IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Disk Storage Systems Tracker Q2 2005.

[2] Source: IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Disk Storage Systems Tracker Q2 2005. Results based on Worldwide Disk Storage System External Market Results by IDC. Year-over-year revenue growth comparing 2Q'04 to 2Q'05 Dell 27.1 percent; HP 13.7 percent; IBM 13.4 percent; EMC 9.6 percent; Hitachi -1.1 percent; and Sun -13.2 percent.

Contact: Charles Zinkowski IBM Media Relations 646-598-6174 charlesz@us.ibm.com