The worldwide personal and entry-level storage (PELS) market grew 2,9% year-over-year with 18,6-million units shipped in the third quarter of 2013 (3Q13), according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Personal and Entry Level Storage Tracker. Shipment values were flat year-over-year, declining -0,9% to $1,7-billion.
“The third quarter of 2013 brought continued shipment growth for the personal and entry-level storage market despite comparison with the strong quarter a year ago,” says Liz Conner, research manager: Storage Systems at IDC.
“In 2012 the third quarter showed very strong growth as the PELS market went into recovery mode after the Thailand floods and resulting hard disk drive (HDD) shortage. The fact that the PELS market was able to build upon this, and show year-over-year growth points to the demand for PELS storage and the success vendors have had with newer products, such as higher speed interfaces, home NAS, portable drives and business class products.”
hDD vendors continue to increase share in PELS units shipped, gaining 1,8 points year-over-year to grow to 74,5% market share. However the entry-level storage market continues to be dominated by the mainstream non-HDD vendors with 69% unit shipment market share, down 5,7 points year-over-year.
The entry-level storage market experienced a decline in unit shipments, falling -6,8% year-over-year, based primarily on the 4-bay market. However, the entry-level market saw strong growth in the higher bay devices (6, 8, and 12 bays), which saw units shipped grow 11,1% year-over-year.
In 3Q13 the personal storage market saw flat growth in dual-bay products, where unit shipments were down -0,2% year-over-year. Single-bay personal storage devices remain the most popular choice, representing 97,1% of the personal storage units shipped in 3Q13.
Personal storage represents 98,9% of the PELS units shipped and 88% of the shipment value in 3Q13.
The 3,5-inch form factor saw a decline of -12,3% year-over-year in units shipped, while the 2,5-inch form factor saw units shipped increase 8,2% year-over-year. The 3,5-inch form factor continues to give way to the more portable 2,5-inch form factor, with 3,5-inch losing 3,8 percentage points year-over-year.
End-users continue to migrate to higher capacity points to meet storage needs. In the 3,5-inch personal storage market, 2Tb devices represented 50,6% of unit shipments in the quarter. For the 2,5-inch personal storage market, 1Tb devices captured 55,9% market share.
For the entry-level market, capacity ranges are more varied due to multiple bays and vendors’ ability to partially populate devices. However, 4Tb devices hold the most market share with 28,1% of units shipped.
USB continues to be the interface of choice for the PELS market, growing units shipped 3% year-over-year. Ethernet remains the interface of choice for the entry-level market, capturing 84% market share. Thunderbolt continues to ramp up, posting a year-over-year shipment growth rate of 308,2%, albeit off a very small base.