IBM (NYSE: IBM) surpassed HP in worldwide external disk storage systems revenue, with a share of 18.6 percent to HP’s 13.7 percent, for the fourth quarter of 2006. IBM also achieved a revenue share of 15.1 percent share to HP’s 14.3 percent for the full year 2006, according to data released by IDC [1]. Growing 15.5 percent year over year, IBM also posted the fastest growth of the top five vendors in the fourth quarter, outpacing Dell, EMC, Hewlett-Packard and Hitachi. Additionally, IBM posted the fastest storage software growth among the top storage vendors.
For 2006, IBM achieved its best finish in external disk storage systems since 1998. For the full year, HP grew less than one percent, while IBM’s year-to-year growth increased 10.5 percent. For the fourth quarter 2006, IBM’s 15.5 percent year-over-year revenue growth rate far exceeded the segment growth rate of 6 percent for external disk storage systems. IBM’s full-year growth of 10.5 percent in external disk also easily out-paced the overall segment growth of 8 percent for 2006, based on data from IDC. IBM also increased its share in the fourth quarter by 1.5 points, the most of any vendor, from 17.1 percent to 18.6 percent.
IBM achieved strong revenue growth in all regions for the fourth quarter of 2006, particularly in Asia-Pacfic, where IBM for the first time was the number one external disk storage vendor, achieving a 19.1 percent revenue share. “This is the second major product segment that IBM has eclipsed HP since the Compaq acquisition. First it was Unix servers, and now external disk storage,” said Andy Monshaw, general manager, IBM System Storage. “Meanwhile, IBM continues to expand its presence in storage and beats the competition by delivering leading storage solutions that help our customers address their information on-demand needs. In 2006, IBM refreshed its product line, introducing new industry-leading storage products from high-end disk systems to entry-level offerings.”
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