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Gartner Says First Quarter 2005 External Controller-Based Disk Storage Revenue Resumed Healthy Growth |
STAMFORD, Conn., June 29, 2005 — Worldwide external controller-based (ECB) disk storage revenue totaled $3.54 billion in first quarter 2005, an 11 percent increase over the same period of 2004, according to Gartner, Inc.
The healthy rebound follows a lackluster performance in the ECB disk storage market in the second half of 2004. Growth was mainly driven by Dell and Network Appliance, although EMC and IBM also posted double-digit revenue increase year over year (see Table 1).
Dell produced the largest growth rate in first quarter 2005 among the top-tier vendors, with a revenue increase of 36 percent. Dell's storage growth also resulted in its separate reporting in its quarterly earnings report for the first time.
"True to its execution heritage, Dell has steadily enhanced its credibility as a provider of midrange enterprise-class ECB disk storage attached to a storage area network (SAN)," said Roger W. Cox, vice president in the storage research group at Gartner.
Network Appliance continued its quarterly year-over-year growth of over 20 percent. The company has been able to defy market seasonality to achieve sequential quarterly growth. "NetApp's success can be attributed to its single management platform, simple product lines and effective execution on unified storage serving various applications," Mr. Cox said.
Table 1
Worldwide External Controller-Based Disk Storage Vendor Revenue Estimates for 1Q05
(Millions of U.S. Dollars)
| Company |
1Q05 Revenue |
1Q05 Market Share (%) |
1Q04 Revenue |
1Q04 Market Share (%) |
1Q04-1Q05 Growth (%) |
| EMC |
814.7 |
23.0 |
732.9 |
23.2 |
11.2 |
| Hewlett-Packard |
643.1 |
15.9 |
529.6 |
16.6 |
6.2 |
| IBM |
421.1 |
11.9 |
370.7 |
11.6 |
13.6 |
| Hitachi/HDS |
368.5 |
10.4 |
336.2 |
10.6 |
9.6 |
| Dell |
231.8 |
6.6 |
170.7 |
5.4 |
35.8 |
| Network Appliance |
211.7 |
6.0 |
166.5 |
5.2 |
27.2 |
| Sun Microsystems |
175.9 |
5.0 |
213.0 |
6.7 |
-17.4 |
| Others |
752.1 |
21.3 |
666.3 |
20.9 |
12.9 |
| Total |
3,538.5 |
100.0 |
3,185.9 |
100.0 |
11.1 |
Source: Gartner Dataquest (June 2005)
EMC, the No. 1 vendor based on revenue, maintained its 23 percent market share in the first quarter of 2005. Led by year-over-year gains in the midrange ECB disk storage market (exclusive of EMC's original equipment manufacturer (OEM) relationships), EMC is increasingly leveraging its rich storage related software portfolio, strong professional services capabilities and growing channel presence to penetrate the lucrative midsize business market.
Sparked by shipments of the new DS8000 and DS6000, IBM realized a year-over-year revenue gain of 13.6 percent, reversing the declines experienced in the second half of 2004 due to product transition issues associated with the high-end of IBM's ECB disk storage systems product portfolio.
The first quarter of 2005 was Hewlett Packard's first positive quarter in over a year. While XP-series (sourced from Hitachi) revenue was down on a year-over-year basis, EVA- and MSA-series revenue increased 17 percent over the first quarter of 2004.
Outside of Japan, Hitachi/HDS counted on its high-end ECB disk storage products (Lightning and TagmaStore) to produce the majority of its branded revenue. (The above table excludes OEM revenue from HP and Sun.) Gartner analysts said Hitachi/HDS needs to elevate its presence in the faster growing midrange ECB disk market in order to stop market share erosion.
Sun continued to struggle in the highly competitive ECB disk storage market. Sales of the high-end SE9000 (sourced from Hitachi/HDS) continued to decline. Sun's midrange ECB disk products revenue in the first quarter of 2005 was 2.7 percent lower than the first quarter of 2004, and the much-touted SE6920 has yet to gain noticeable market traction.
Additional information on the external controller-based disk storage market is available in the Gartner report "ECB Disk Storage Market Showed Healthy Growth in 1Q05." The report is available on Gartner's Web site at http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?ref=g_search&id=482241 .
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About Gartner:
Gartner, Inc. is the leading provider of research and analysis on the global information technology industry. Gartner serves more than 10,000 clients, including chief information officers and other senior IT executives in corporations and government agencies, as well as technology companies and the investment community. The Company focuses on delivering objective, in-depth analysis and actionable advice to enable clients to make more informed business and technology decisions. The Company's businesses consist of Research and Events for IT professionals; Gartner Executive Programs, membership programs and peer networking services; and Gartner Consulting, customized engagements with a specific emphasis on outsourcing and IT management. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, and has over 3,900 associates, including more than 1,100 research analysts and consultants, in more than 75 locations worldwide. For more information,
visit www.gartner.com.
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