Worldwide Disk Storage Systems Maintain Steady Growth in Third Quarter, According to IDC

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--()--Worldwide external disk storage systems factory revenues posted year-over-year growth of 3.3%, totaling just over $5.9 billion, in the third quarter of 2012 (3Q12), according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Disk Storage Systems Tracker. For the quarter, the total disk storage systems market posted just under $7.9 billion in revenues, representing 3.7% growth from the prior year's third quarter. Total disk storage systems capacity shipped reach 7,104 petabytes, growing 24.4% year over year.

"The external disk storage system market continues to exhibit steady growth, posting solid third quarter factory revenues of just over $5.9 billion," said Liz Conner, senior research analyst, Storage Systems. "End users continue to invest in storage infrastructures despite persistent concerns surrounding global and regional economies. Helping to drive the worldwide market in the third quarter was the double-digit growth in multi-protocol storage architecture and strong demand for upper mid-range and high-end storage."

"The disk storage systems market crossed an important milestone in the third quarter when the new capacity consumption surpassed seven exabytes for the first time," said Eric Sheppard, research director, Storage Systems. "This milestone occurred at a time of unfavorable economic conditions in Europe and improved utilization rates contributable to storage optimization technologies, suggesting demand for storage capacity is outstripping market headwinds."

3Q12 External Disk Storage Systems Results

EMC maintained its lead in the external disk storage systems market with 30.0% revenue share in the third quarter, followed by NetApp and IBM, which are tied* for second with 11.9% and 11.7% market share, respectively. Hitachi and HP finished the quarter in a statistical tie* for the fourth position with 9.7% market shares each.

Open Networked Disk Storage Systems Highlights

The total open networked disk storage market (NAS Combined with Open / iSCSI SAN) grew 4.7% year over year in the third quarter to just over $5.1 billion in revenues. EMC continues to maintain its leadership in the total open networked storage market with 33.5% revenue share, followed by NetApp with a 13.7% revenue share.

In the Open SAN market, which grew 4.4% year over year, EMC was the leading vendor with 29.8% revenue share, followed by IBM in second with 14.0% market share and Hitachi and HP tied* for third with 12.2% and 11.8% shares, respectively.

The NAS market increased 5.7% year over year, led by EMC with 43.6% revenue share and followed by NetApp with 29.4% share. The iSCSI SAN market continues to show good growth, posting 6.9% revenue growth compared to the prior year's quarter. Dell led the market with 28.3% revenue share, followed by EMC in second with 19.8% market share. NetApp was in third with 13.3% market share.

 

Top 5 Vendors, Worldwide External Disk Storage Systems Factory Revenue, Third Quarter of 2012

(Revenues are in Millions)

Vendor    

3Q12
Revenue

   

3Q12 Market
Share

   

3Q11
Revenue

   

3Q11 Market
Share

   

3Q12/3Q11
Revenue
Growth

1. EMC     $1,783     30.0%     $1,641     28.5%     8.7%
T2. NetApp     $706     11.9%     $700     12.2%     0.9%
T2. IBM     $698     11.7%     $735     12.8%     -5.0%
T4. Hitachi     $575     9.7%     $505     8.8%     13.8%
T4. HP     $575     9.7%     $646     11.2%     -11.0%
Others     $1,608     27.0%     $1,526     26.5%     5.4%
                               
All Vendors     $5,946     100.0%     $5,753     100.0%     3.3%

Source: IDC Worldwide Disk Storage Systems Quarterly Tracker, December 6, 2012

 

Notes:

  • * IDC declares a statistical tie in the worldwide disk storage market when there is less than one percent difference in the factory revenues of two or more vendors.

In addition to the table above, a graphic illustrating the worldwide market shares of the top 6 external disk storage systems vendors for 3Q11 and 3Q12 is available at IDC.com. The chart is intended for public use in online news articles and social media. Instructions on how to embed this graphic can be found by viewing this press release on IDC.com.

3Q12 Total Disk Storage Systems Market Results

In the total worldwide disk storage systems market, EMC finished in the top position followed by HP with market shares of 22.7% and 17.9% respectively.

 

Top 5 Vendors, Worldwide Total Disk Storage Systems Factory Revenue, Third Quarter of 2012

(Revenues are in Millions)

Vendor    

3Q12
Revenue

   

3Q12 Market
Share

   

3Q11
Revenue

   

3Q11 Market
Share

   

3Q12/3Q11
Revenue
Growth

1. EMC     $1,783     22.7%     $1,641     21.6%     8.7%
2. HP     $1,411     17.9%     $1,431     18.9%     -1.4%
3. IBM     $1,079     13.7%     $1,124     14.8%     -4.0%
4. Dell     $912     11.6%     $876     11.5%     4.0%
5. NetApp     $706     9.0%     $700     9.2%     0.9%
Others     $1,974     25.1%     $1,812     23.9%     8.9%
                               
All Vendors     $7,865     100.0%     $7,584     100.0%     3.7%

Source: IDC Worldwide Disk Storage Systems Quarterly Tracker, December 6, 2012

 

Notes:

  • * IDC declares a statistical tie in the worldwide disk storage market when there is less than one percent difference in the factory revenues of two or more vendors.

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 Disk Storage Systems Quarterly 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 Lidice Fernandez at 305-351-3051 or lfernandez@idc.com.

About IDC

IDC is the 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 to make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1,000 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. For more than 48 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.

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Contacts

International Data Corporation
Eric Sheppard, 508-988-7925
esheppard@idc.com
or
Liz Conner, 508-988-6993
lconner@idc.com
or
Michael Shirer, 508-935-4200
press@idc.com

Release Summary

Worldwide external disk storage systems factory revenues posted year-over-year growth of 3.3%, to just over $5.9 billion in 3Q12, according to the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Disk Storage Systems Tracker.

Contacts

International Data Corporation
Eric Sheppard, 508-988-7925
esheppard@idc.com
or
Liz Conner, 508-988-6993
lconner@idc.com
or
Michael Shirer, 508-935-4200
press@idc.com