The storage industry closed out 2003 in fine form, according to new market research results from Gartner and IDC. Worldwide sales surged 18.7% in Q4, Gartner reports.
Worldwide Disk Storage System Market Vendors / Market share Q4 2002 / Market Share Q4 2003/ Change HP 25.4% 25.6% 0.2 IBM 23.3% 25.4% 2.1 EMC 11.7% 13.3% 1.6 Dell 5.1% 6.5% 1.4 Hitachi/HDS 4.9% 5.1% 0.2 Sun Microsystems 5.9% 5.1% -0.8 Net App 2.5% 2.7% 0.2 Others 21.2% 16.3% -4.9 Total 100.0% 100.0%
Both IDC and the Gartner Group cited recent gains of 6.1% and 5.7%, respectively. Both reports hinted that the drought in IT spending may be coming to an end–or at least leveling off. The difference may be explained by the fact that the two firms look at the field from different vantage points.