Daily Sacrifice of “Priceless” Selfies Is #firstworldproblem

A consumer study commissioned by Western Digital Corp. (WDC) and conducted by research firm Vanson Bourne Ltd found that having to choose which photo or video to delete to free up storage space, and then regretting doing so, is a bona fide #firstworldproblem.

The study, from a survey of 5,000 consumers across the UK, France, Germany and the US, analyzes how people create, consume, share and store digital content.

Key findings include:

• Over 76% of respondents aged 16 to 24 delete content to make space and then regret it
• The era of digital media has arrived, and the end of the CD is near
• Streaming of feature films or TV shows is not taking over from digital ownership
• One in four say their digital content is ‘priceless’, while the rest place the average value at approximately $5,500
  

Sacrificing Content
Despite one in four saying their digital content is ‘priceless’, sacrificing a picture or video is a regular occurrence.

Of those that took the survey:

• Nearly one fifth (19%) of consumers have deleted a photo or video to make room on their device, and regretted this all of the time
• This figure is 27% when looking at a younger group of 16- to 24-year old
• Similarly, 31% of the 16 to 24 age group say that they run out of space on their smartphones on a weekly basis while 17% say this is a problem on a daily basis
  

“Running out of storage space isn’t the greatest challenge threatening mankind at the moment, but it’s certainly an annoyance for a great many consumers,” said Jim Welsh, EVP and GM of content solutions, WD. “Our findings clearly show that consumers are sacrificing precious memories and valuable content to make more space on their devices.“

Physical Ownership vs. Digital Ownership
One reason for the daily deletion of content could be the preference of digital forms of media over physical forms of media. Of the respondents, 48% prefer digital versions of music albums compared to 25% preferring the hard copy.

• The same goes for films with 41% preferring a digital copy versus 29% for DVD
• While streaming is becoming popular, it’s not winning the battle over ownership, as for those who prefer digital versions for watching feature films, 48% prefer digital ownership to 29% preferring streaming.
  

With an average of five music albums, five feature films and five television shows being downloaded each week by the consumers in the study, it’s clear a huge amount of digital media is being consumed.

“Our study shows that 73% of consumers still buy technology based on price compared to only 37% buy based on features, and we believe this is true for external storage,” said Welsh. “However, as consumers continue to be leading more digital lifestyles and are forced to choose between which files to keep or delete, we believe consumers will look for external storage solutions that bring more value with features that help them store, share and backup their digital content from mobile devices and computers.“

Storage Needs
The findings support the notion that there is a disconnect among the majority of consumers over how much digital content they consume and create and how much storage they own and need.

• Of those who have personal storage only one in four respondents have external storage of 1TB or more
• Yet, 46% have 64GB or less as their total storage or backup capacity on the device they use as their primary means of storing content
  

“Clearly, attitudes towards storage purchasing have not yet caught up with appetites for digital content,” Welsh added. “It’s incumbent on companies like Western Digital to demonstrate to consumers how products like wireless HDDs, NAS and personal clouds can help them quickly and easily manage their digital lives and ensure they never have to delete a precious memory again. We say to consumers, ‘keep it coming!’“