Consumer Electronics Is Major Growth Area For Hard Drives

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., October 26, 2005 - As consumers continue to amass large amounts of digital content, they require enhanced storage capacity on their consumer electronic products. Hard drive manufacturers are increasing storage capacities on smaller form factor hard disk drives (HDDs); as a result, these companies are poised to benefit from the expanding Consumer Electronics (CE) market, reports In-Stat (http://www.in-stat.com). In 2004, shipments of hard disk drives into the Consumer Electronics segment reached 40 million units, and this market will reach almost 240 million units in 2009, the high-tech market research firm says. Over the next few years, significant growth may come from portable devices such as PDAs, digital camcorders, and mobile phones.

“Alternative storage solutions, such as improved Flash, will continue to compete against small form factor HDDs,” says Stephanie Guza, In-Stat analyst. “Nevertheless, HDD manufacturers are primed for impressive growth in the CE segment, especially as shipments of 1-inch HDDs escalate due to growth in the portable CE space.”

A recent report by In-Stat found the following:

- The 1-inch-and-smaller HDD market will win out over the forecast period and represent 50% of all HDDs shipped to the CE segment by 2009.
- Total worldwide shipments of hard drives will increase dramatically over the next five years, growing from approximately 304 million in 2004 to 500 million in 2009.
- As a result of demand for storing increased amounts of data on smaller, portable devices, HDD manufacturers have strengthened efforts to introduce products utilizing perpendicular recording.

The report, “Hard Disk Drives in CE: Primed for Impressive Growth” (#IN0502137MI), covers the use of hard disk drive-based storage in consumer electronics products. It offers worldwide unit shipment and revenue forecasts for several consumer electronics segments through 2009. Industry trends, opportunities and hurdles are reviewed, and the forecast summary consolidates shipments for the entire market and compares drive sizes and growth of the CE segment as a percentage of the total HDD market.

For more information on this report, please visit:
http://email.in-stat.com/cgi-bin4/DM/y/erYb0HsuUV0K560Dhb60Er or contact Erin McKeighan at 480-609-4551 or emckeighan@reedbusiness.com. The report price is $3,495 (US).

About In-Stat

In-Stat (http://www.in-stat.com) offers a broad range of information resources and analytical assets to technology vendors, service providers, technology professionals, and market specialists worldwide. The company stands alone in its ability to integrate both supply-side and demand-side research methodologies into a single comprehensive view of technology markets and products. This capability relies on a unique ability to cover the entire value chain from engineering-level technology, through equipment, infrastructure, services and end-users.

In-Stat is part of the Reed Electronics Group, a division of Reed Elsevier (www.reedelsevier.com), a world-leading publisher and information provider. With over 38,000 employees worldwide, Reed Elsevier operates in the science & medical, legal, education and business-to-business industry sectors, providing high value and flexible information solutions to professional end users, with increasing emphasis on the Internet.

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