HDD Sales End Above Forecast in 2Q14 – Trendfocus

In its preliminaty CQ2 ’14 Quarterly Update – July 7, 2014, SDAS: HDD Information Service, Trendfocus, Inc. wrote that HDD sales end above forecast due to steady PC sales and that enterprise (nearline) HDD volumes remain sluggish, that is not surprising.

3.5″ Desktop/CE HDDs
Desktop PC demand remains steady, and 3.5″ desktop/CE HDD shipments were consistent with the prior quarter in the 49-50 million range. CE volumes, driven by the xVR market, remain soft, and unit shipments remain below original expectations. 3.5″ desktop/CE volumes should tick upward in CQ3 and in CQ4 as commercial budgets are used to buy desktop PCs before yearend.

2.5″ Mobile/CE HDDs
Higher notebook PC production along with continued game console HDD demand lifted 2.5″ mobile/CE HDD volumes in CQ2 to 70-72 million. PC companies slowly geared up for back-to-school season in anticipation of stronger notebook PC demand. In addition, 2.5″ HDD sales for the recently launched Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4 contributed to the overall strength of this segment. This positive trend should continue in CQ3 and for most of CQ4, and will be the driving force behind the small growth of the HDD market this year.

3.5″/2.5″ Enterprise HDDs
Nearline HDD sales continue to disappoint, as new datacenter roll-out schedules keep getting pushed out. Both nearline and traditional enterprise HDD sales were in line with the prior quarter, and unit shipments ended around 16 million for the quarter. Looking forward, nearline HDD demand should improve, and buoy enterprise HDD sales in the second half of the year.

Preliminary HDD forecasts for 2Q14

(Source: Trendfocus)