History 2001: WW Optical/Removable Storage Market Continued to Grow in 2000

The WW optical storage market continues to grow and this market is expected to reach 250 million drives in 2005 from 192 million in 2000, according to IDC.

In value at OEM price, the market can expect to expand from $11.3 billion in 2000 to $14.6 billion in 2005. Fueling this growth are the continued storage aftermarket (CD-RW, 3.5-inch M-O, and combo drives) and the popularity of the dual-drive PCs.

In units shipped in 2000, the leaders were LG Electronics, ≠1, followed by Samsung, Lite-On, Teac, Panasonic, Toshiba, BTC, Sony, Mitsumi and Iomega.

“Affordable CD-RW drives with the utility to record low-cost CD-R media will replace CD-ROM as the dominant removable storage technology,” said Wolfgang Schlichting, research manager for IDC’s optical removable storage program. “Their increased functionality and their expected low prices will enable these drives to quickly absorb the current markets.”

IDC believes on the strength of CD-RW’s success the CD/DVD recordable segment will be the leading growth technology between 2001 and 2005. CD/DVD-ROM represents approximately 72% of the market’s unit volume and 52% of its value.

In the next 5 years, CD/DVD-ROM volumes will decline dramatically, showing signs of saturation. As a technology that is quickly becoming a commodity, CD-ROM will remain important in low-cost and dual-drive PCs.

This article is an abstract of news published on issue 165 on October 2001 from the former paper version of Computer Data Storage Newsletter.