HDD Shipments at 142 Million in 4Q13 – Trendfocus

In its Preliminary CQ4 ’13 Quarterly Update, SDAS: HDD Information Service, analysts from Trendfocus, Inc. report that HDD shipments top 142 million.

Commercial PC replacements lift desktop, mobile HDDs, while enterprise HDDs holding nearly flat to prior quarter.

3.5″ Desktop/CE HDDs
Desktop/CE HDDs drove the largest unit increase compared to other segments during CQ4, to approximately 53 million units. While CE remained nearly flat to CQ3 ’13, a commercial PC refresh fueled by end-of-year budget flushing as well as the impending end-of-support for Windows XP in April 2014 lifted HDD shipments by at least 2 million units sequentially. With very mature one-platter HDDs comprising the majority of the volume, preliminary ASP estimates indicate a sequential decline of 1% or less.

2.5″ Mobile/CE HDDs
Although gaming HDDs were down in typical seasonal fashion, the total mobile/CE segment increased slightly from the prior quarter to around 72 million units. The gaming HDD decline was more than offset by slightly better than expected notebook PCs and seasonal retail external HDD sales. Commercial notebook demand likely supported the gains, while lackluster consumer notebook demand continued to hold down growth. Perhaps the most positive news about consumer notebook PCs is that demand has stabilized slightly, avoiding the significant erosion seen over the past year. Preliminary sequential ASP declines are estimated in the range of 1% or less given the mature product mix.

3.5″/2.5″ Enterprise HDDs
Total enterprise HDDs held at just over 17 million. Traditional performance enterprise HDD remained flat after measurable gains in CQ3. Nearline HDDs did not fully recover from the prior quarter’s dip and ended CQ4 at just under 9 million units. While newer high capacity models continue to post sequential price declines in the range of 2% to 4%, the preliminary ASP decline for the full segment is estimated to be 2% or less.