17:05 ET EMC EXPANDING SHARE OF STORAGE MARKET
Jan 26, 2001 (Tech Web - CMP via COMTEX) -- Despite increasingly aggressive efforts to crack its stranglehold on the storage sector, EMC Corp. continues to leave its competitors far behind and is actually expanding its market share, a new study has found.
The research firm IDC found that EMC's 2000 revenues now account for 26.1 percent of the overall storage market, up from 24.4 percent the year before. On the flip side, rivals such as Hewlett-Packard Co. (stock: HWP); IBM Corp. (stock: IBM); and Sun Microsystems Inc. (stock: SUNW) saw their cut of the pie reduced last year.
The IDC study released Friday noted a particular surge in the portion of the SAN market the Hopkinton, Mass., company controls based on revenue -- up to 30.9 percent in 2000 from 18.8 percent in 1999.
At the same time, Sun, Palo Alto, Calif., had 13.6 percent of the SAN market last year; in 1999, it collected 26.3 percent of the SAN revenue.
Of EMC's leading competitors, only IBM outpaced its 1999 numbers, with 8.9 percent of the market last year over a 2.6-percent cut the previous year, according to the IDC
analysis.
To many market observers, EMC's continuing dominance in creating and maintaining disk and tape storage services isn't all that surprising, even in the face of an increasing
number of shots across its bow from a formidable array of rivals.
The market for computer data storage is expanding rapidly, and experts say EMC's market savvy gives the company a leg up.
The IDC report comes on the heels of an EMC fourth-quarter earnings announcement that -- in stark contrast to many of the other tech companies being battered by the slowing economy -- met expectations and promised a strong year ahead.
Those projections are still very much attainable, according to some market experts.
Jack Scott, an analyst at the Evaluator Group in Denver, said he believes that not only will EMC (stock: EMC) reach its stated 2001 revenue goal of $12 billion, but could well
exceed it.
William Hurley, analyst at the Yankee Group in Boston, said the IDC findings reflect EMC's approach to the market, both in the quality of its products and its attention to customer service. And it has made good choices when it comes to creating new partnerships or buying businesses.
"They've made acquisitions that have been logical, fitting into the strategy for the company," Hurley said. "SOFTWORKS Inc. and CrosStor Software Inc. are examples of EMC's acquisitions that just make sense."
Mark Fredrickson, an EMC spokesman, said that the addition of CLARiiON to the company's product line has been a contributing factor to keeping it ahead of the pack.
"EMC continues to spend more money on research and development to add to our product lead, particularly on the software side," he said.
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Not a very good showing for SUNW...What's going on?
EKS |
