History (1998): WW Tape Storage Revenue Up 15% Y/Y at $2.9 Billion in 1997

The WW tape drive storage market reached revenues of $2.9 billion in 1997, a 15% increase over 1996, according to new research from IDC.

The analyst firm expects this trend to continue as the market climbs to an expected $3.1 billion in 1998.

Overall, the market realized a significant boost in revenue despite sluggish shipments of only 3% from 1996 to 1997. Increased average selling values (ASVs), which increased 12% in 1997, helped make up for the market’s overall flat shipment growth. According to the published research, 1997 Tape Storage Year in Review and 1998 Forecast, unit growth will remain slow in 1998 due to declines in the DC2000 and DC6000 technologies. These products are being squeezed on the desktop by flexible removable magnetic products such as the Zip drive from Iomega.

The mid-range tape drive segment will propel the WW tape storage market through 2002. This portion of the market, which is made up of drives in the 4mm, 8mm, and DLT categories, will climb from $1.9 billion OEM revenues in 1997 to $2.9 billion by 2002.

“DLT has become the de-facto standard in the mid-range tape drive market,” said Robert Amatruda, senior analyst, IDC’s storage mechanisms program.

He expects the DLT segment to increase WW revenues by 30% and shipments by 27% in 1998.

The strong forecast for the mid-range market, and DLT in particular, will help offset declines in other tape technologies.

What follows are some key statistics from the study:
– The tape drive market totaled 5.56 million drive units in 1997.
– OEM revenues increased 15% to $2.9 billion in 1997.
– In 1997, DC2000 shipments declined 3%, but remained the volume leader with 56% of all tape drives shipped.
– The 4mm drive market will account for 33% of tape storage revenues in 1998.
– DLT shipments will grow 27% to 418,000 in 1998.

The WW tape drive market went through some fundamental changes in 1997 that will continue into 1998. A new set of technologies are now making their way to the forefront and are positioned to solidify tape as a viable storage solution.

This article is an abstract of news published on issue 125 on June 1998 from the former paper version of Computer Data Storage Newsletter.