Computer Storage Market to Rebound in 2010

After suffering a decline 2009, global revenue from shipments of Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) and Optical Disk Drives (ODDs) used in computers is expected to grow in 2010. According to Fang Zhang, analyst for storage systems at iSuppli Corp., this growth will be the result of five factors, namely, rising PC sales in the renewed economy; new server purchases and the migration to 2.5in HDDs in data centers to achieve cost reductions; the adoption of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 7 operating system by the enterprise business segment; growing shipments of external drives used for the storage of gaming, music and movies; and the expanding use of storage in high-quality sound systems.

Worldwide revenue from shipments of HDDs used in computer applications is expected to amount to $27.7 billion in 2010, up 18.4 percent from $23.4 billion in 2009. Computer-oriented ODD revenue will increase to $14.8 billion in 2010, up 7.6 percent from $13.7 billion in 2009. In comparison, computer-oriented HDD revenue declined by 11.7 percent in 2009, while ODD decreased by 6.3 percent.

iSuppli