HDD Shipments to Surpass 139 Million in 3Q13 – Trendfocus

Storage industry’s market research and consulting firm Trendfocus, Inc. published a report on HDDs: Preliminary CQ3 ’13 Quarterly Update – October 4, 2013, entitled:

HDD Shipments Surpass 139 Million – CQ3
Outlook Dim as PCs Search for Growth Catalyst
PCs, gaming and retail sales buoy CQ3 HDD market – all HDD companies post higher sequential shipments

3.5″ Desktop/CE HDDs
Desktop/CE HDD posted solid Q-Q gains, as unit shipments grew to over 51 million in CQ3 representing a sequential increase of nearly 5%. Back-to-school sales lifted desktop PC units resulting in healthier desktop HDD demand. Commercial desktop PC sales could be slightly stronger in CQ4 due to corporate end-of-the-year budget flushes. 3.5″ CE HDDs for DVR were consistent from last quarter helping overall desktop HDD volumes.

2.5″ Mobile/CE HDDs
Mobile/CE segment posted the largest sequential increase, as unit shipments rose to about 71 million in CQ2. The 6% growth was the result of stronger CE sales combined with customer “buy aheads” for notebook PC volumes. Ultrabook PC sales continue to disappoint as consumers have not been impressed by the advantages of the thin and light platform. Fortunately, the game console refresh by both Microsoft and PlayStation boosted 500GB CE HDD sales in CQ3 by several million from the prior quarter.

3.5″/2.5″ Enterprise HDDs
Total enterprise HDD eased slightly to 17 million in CQ3. Traditional performance enterprise HDD shipments grew in CQ3 while capacity enterprise (nearline) HDD volumes declined below 9 million units. Nearline order patterns were altered slightly in CQ3 and do not signal a systemic change or slowdown in exabyte growth.

Company Highlights

Seagate – Preliminary shipment estimate: approximately 56 million (up approximately 2 million Q-Q)

• 3.5″ desktop/CE shipments were up modestly to 26 million.
• Mobile/CE HDD grew by almost 2 million to 22 million in CQ3 due to robust game console HDD sales.
• Enterprise HDDs eased to around 8 million for the quarter.

Toshiba – Preliminary shipment estimate: over 21 million (up nearly 1.5 million Q-Q)

• 3.5″ desktop shipments grew over 1 million units Q-Q to around 4 million units.
• Mobile/CE shipments were relatively flat at just under 16 million for the quarter.
• Enterprise volumes (mission critical and business critical) continue to grow, and sales reached 1.3 million in CQ3

Western Digital – Preliminary shipment estimate: approximately 62 million (up about 2 million Q-Q)

• Desktop/CE unit sales grew by 1 million Q-Q to 21 million units.
• 2.5″ mobile/CE HDD shipments totaled about 33 million units.
• Enterprise sales were stable at just below 8 million units.

The above figures are estimates and are intended for preliminary guide only. Final shipment numbers and ASPs will be published in Trendfocus CQ3’13 quarterly update and executive summary may change measurably.