EMC stretches lead in EMEA storage market

HP and IBM lose ground as market enjoys healthy 2010 growth

EMC, NetApp and Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) were the big winners as the EMEA enterprise storage market enjoyed robust growth in 2010, according to Gartner.

Gartner research reveals that total sales of external controller-based (ECB) disk storage across the region in 2010 grew 14.2 per cent year on year to $5.8bn (£3.6bn). EMC consolidated its position as EMEA's leading vendor with sales growing 25.6 per cent to $1.43bn and market share up more than two points to 24.5 per cent.

IBM and HP, in second and third place respectively, lost ground after posting more modest growth. Big Blue's ECB revenue rose 7.6 per cent to $961m, while its market share declined by a point to 16.4 per cent. HP's sales grew 9.2 per cent to $855m, giving the firm a 14.6 per cent slice of the market, down from 15.3 per cent in 2009.

Fourth-placed NetApp was the market's fastest grower, with sales rising a whopping 36.4 per cent to $680m and market share up almost two points to 11.6 per cent. Dell, in fifth place, posted annual revenue growth of 7.7 per cent. The Texan vendor's $458m top line gave it 7.8 per cent market share, down half a point year on year. Hot on its heels was HDS, which saw sales grow 26.1 per cent to $429m and market share rise from 6.6 to 7.3 per cent.

Gartner senior research analyst Sid Deshpande said: "The double-digit growth in EMEA was largely due to the gradual stabilisation of economies across Europe, and the fulfilling of pent-up demand resulting from the economic downturn in 2009. Several storage vendors expanded their SMB products, and go-to-market strategies in 2010, fuelling strong demand."