Hard drives surrender channel crown to SSD

Solid state disks have begun outselling hard disk drives for the first time through western European distribution, according to Context

Solid state disk (SSD) revenues in western European B2B distribution channels have overtaken hard disk drive (HDD) sales for the first time, according to IT market analyst Context.

In July 2015 HDD sales to enterprise through distribution were almost double SSD sales, but this July SSD sales were £14.6m compared with £13.9m for HDD.

The figures, which include the UK, represent a 38.3 per cent jump for SSD revenues, while HDD revenues plummeted 28.7 per cent.

Growth of SSD revenue in the UK was higher than the European average, at 72 per cent.

Context's distribution report covers 190 distributors across 15 European countries.

Mathias Knöfel, senior manager of corporate benchmarking and enterprise analysis at Context, told CRN that while it is too soon to say whether SSD will continue to outperform HDD, the signs are ominous for the traditional hard drive.

"This is what we've been seeing through the western European distribution channel, so it's only one go-to-market, but it's actually a very important route to market because this is where a lot of the VARs and corporate customers are purchasing, so in the storage sector I think it's quite a good indication of more to come," he said.

Context figures also show that around 19 per cent of SSD sales through distribution went to small and medium-sized resellers, whereas last year the market was inhabited solely by corporate resellers.

SSD prices have now dropped, making it more accessible for most medium-sized businesses and some small businesses which tend to be catered for by smaller resellers, Knöfel said.

He explained that a year ago, large multinationals such as banks were willing to take the financial hit that comes with SSD because the increased speed would have made a significant difference to their day-to-day operations - a luxury that smaller companies could not afford.

However, Knöfel stressed that lower SSD prices do not necessarily signal the end for HDD.

He expects to see more small businesses installing SSD for the files they access regularly, while storing archived data on HDD instead of tape, which has historically been the popular choice.

Distributor Entatech sells components to the high-end gaming market and managing director Dave Stevinson told CRN that while the firm is seeing a dual-storage approach, its hard drive sales are now noticeably lower than those of SSD.

"In every metric we look at in terms of number of customers buying, revenue and margin, SSD is increasing significantly," he said.

"For hard drives the same metrics are showing a spending decrease [and] the drop is even more significant if you look at just internal devices."

"Every trend in our figures shows the exchange of a hard drive for SSD."

Stevinson explained that a key driver in SSD sales is their size, with demand for smaller devices increasing.

He does however think there is still a place for traditional hard drives, highlighting the larger capacities available, lower prices and stability as key reasons for firms to stick with HDD.