IDC's Global StorageSphere Forecast Shows Continued Strong Growth in the World's Installed Base of Storage Capacity

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Despite the dramatic decline in worldwide IT spending brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, International Data Corporation (IDC) expects the Global StorageSphere – the worldwide installed base of storage capacity – will continue to expand. In a new update to its Global StorageSphere forecast, IDC estimates that the installed base of storage capacity worldwide will grow to 6.8 zettabytes (ZB) this year, an increase of 16.6% over 2019. Over the course of the 2019-2024 forecast, IDC expects the installed base of storage capacity to achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.8%.

"The volume of data stored in the Global StorageSphere is doubling approximately every four years," said John Rydning, research vice president, IDC's Global DataSphere. "While the COVID-19 pandemic will hamper economic growth and IT spending, it will have little impact on the expansion of the Global StorageSphere as consumers and organizations are likely to extend the useful life of existing storage capacity to keep up with the demand for storing more data, especially near term."

IDC's Global StorageSphere measures the size of the worldwide installed base of storage capacity across six types of storage media, and how much of the storage capacity is utilized or available each year. The installed base of storage capacity is a cumulative metric: it is equivalent to the amount of new storage capacity deployed over the span of several years minus the systems or storage devices that either fail or are retired or decommissioned each year. The Global StorageSphere is a product of IDC's Global DataSphere program, which measures how much new data is created and/or replicated each year.

Key findings from the Global StorageSphere forecast include the following:

• The amount of data being stored (utilized storage) in the Global StorageSphere is expected to grow to 8.9ZB by 2024, representing a 2019–2024 CAGR of 20.4%. Moreover, the share of utilized storage in the Global StorageSphere installed base is expected to reach 67.5% in 2024, up more than 7 percentage points from the beginning of the forecast.
• The dramatic growth in cloud storage is affecting the mix and share of the Global StorageSphere installed base between core, edge, and endpoint. The core is where the world's data is progressively being stored and will hold a 60% share of the StorageSphere installed base in 2024, up from 40% in 2019. While the edge is growing nearly as fast as core, it will hold less than 10% of the overall Global StorageSphere installed base in 2024.
• Hard disk drive (HDD) storage makes up the majority of the StorageSphere installed base, although it will decline from 65.0% of the installed base in 2019 to about 54% of the installed base in 2024.

The IDC report, Worldwide Global StorageSphere Forecast, 2020–2024: Continuing to Store More in the Core (IDC #US46224920), provides a forecast for the worldwide Global StorageSphere market for the 2019–2024 period. It measures the size of the installed base of storage capacity and how much of the storage capacity is utilized or available each year. The worldwide Global StorageSphere is forecast by region, media type, consumer or enterprise managed, location (core, edge, endpoint), system type or application, and cloud/noncloud.

About IDC
International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,100 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world's leading tech media, data and marketing services company. To learn more about IDC, please visit www.idc.com. Follow IDC on Twitter at @IDC and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the IDC Blog for industry news and insights: http://bit.ly/IDCBlog_Subscribe.