Date: 16/12/2010

Magnetic hard disk drive growth less affected by solid state memory drives

iSuppli has reported Magnetic Hard Disk Drive (HDD) shipments will reach an estimated 169.2 million units during the last three months of the year, up 2.2 percent from 165.5 million units in the third quarter. Revenue in the fourth quarter is projected to climb 2.1 percent, equating to $8.9 billion.

iSuppli says the rise in HDD shipments in the fourth quarter will mark the second consecutive period of growth following a decline in the second quarter.

"The fourth-quarter increases in HDD shipments and revenue reflect positive developments on several fronts, including the stabilization of prices, strong demand from the enterprise segment and a return to normal inventory levels," said Fang Zhang, analyst for storage systems at iSuppli.

iSuppli finds the solid state memory drive based on NAND flash memory chips has only made small advances and HDDs continue to be the main storage device of choice in both the consumer and enterprise segments.

iSuppli also finds no change in rankings of HDD vendors in the fourth quarter, with Western Digital Corp. preserving its leadership position in shipments for what will be the third consecutive quarter.
Western Digital is expected to ship 51.5 million HDD units in the fourth quarter, up 1.7 percent from 50.7 million units in the third quarter. In comparison, Seagate is expected to ship 49.5 million HDDs, up a smaller 0.6 percent from 49.2 million units during the same period.

On the revenue side, the rankings are reversed, as Seagate is predicted to maintain its lead in the fourth quarter with sales of $2.8 billion-up 3.7 percent from $2.7 billion in the third quarter. Western Digital, which sells product in the consumer segment at high volumes but at lower prices, is expected to remain at No. 2 with revenue of $2.4 billion, up a scant 0.2 percent from $2.39 billion in the third quarter.