• Flash drives remained the top contributor with 62% market share.
• Micro SD cards shipments surged by 14% YoY.
• 32GB pen drives was the popular with 42% share.
Gurugram/New Delhi, Aug 28, 2024. According to CMR India Consumer Storage Flash Devices Market Review Report for Q2 CY2024, the India consumer storage market experienced a 22% year-over-year decline in shipments compared to Q2 2023. This follows a strong Q1 2024 with 22% YoY growth, highlighting potential seasonal fluctuations and market adjustments.
According to Mukesh Sharma, Analyst – Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CyberMedia Research (CMR), notes, “While flash drives maintained their market dominance, the Micro SD card segment experienced a significant decline in Q2. The overall consumer storage market exhibited volatility, shifting from growth to contraction. This fluctuation suggests dynamic market forces influenced by seasonal factors and inventory adjustments. Additionally, the growing trend of smartphones without memory card slots underscores changing consumer preferences and technological advancements that may impact the Micro SD card market.”
Q2 2024 Market Highlights:
• SanDisk reinforced its market dominance in Q2 2024, capturing a substantial 50% share. The company’s leadership across all three consumer storage categories reflects its exceptional product quality and strong brand recognition.
• HP held a distant second position with an 8% market share.
• Samsung demonstrated significant growth, securing third place with an impressive 84% year-over-year (YoY) increase in shipments. Lesser-known brands collectively accounted for 18% of the market share.
Segment Performance:
Flash Drives: The 32GB capacity remains the top choice, contributing 42% to the market share, with the 64GB segment closely following at 30%.
Micro SD Cards: The 8GB segment accounts for 29% of the market, while the 64GB capacity represents 20%.
Looking Ahead:
CMR forecasts a surge in Micro SD card demand, primarily fueled by the burgeoning AI and ML applications in smart home and digital AV devices. These devices necessitate high-capacity, high-speed storage solutions to accommodate the intensive data processing involved. Concurrently, the flash drive market is anticipated to experience substantial growth, with a projected year-over-year increase of 10-15% by the end of 2024. This growth is underpinned by the rising adoption of USB 3.1, 3.2, and USB-C technologies, which enable significantly faster data transfer speeds.
According to Bhaskar Negi, Analyst – Industry Intelligence Group at CyberMedia Research (CMR), “In Q3 CY2024, shipments are anticipated to rise, driven by festive season demand and 5G adoption boosting Micro SD card sales. However, smartphones without memory card slots could challenge Micro SD card growth. Meanwhile, the expanding AI Data Cycle will create new storage needs for flash drives, driving future growth. Consumers seek innovative designs, color options, compact sizes, security features, and durability in flash drives.”
Notes for Editors
1. CyberMedia Research (CMR) is a pioneering market intelligence and consulting firm that runs a comprehensive quarterly market update on the India Consumer Storage market. CMR’s India Quarterly Consumer Storage Flash Memory Market Review covers Micro SD cards, SD cards and Flash drives sold via distributors and retail outlets. The report accounts for ‘legal’ shipments, but does not include bundled or ‘grey’ market shipments or units brought from abroad by individuals as a part of personal baggage.
• CMR uses the term “shipments” to describe the number of consumer storage flash memory devices leaving the factory premises for OEM sales or stocking by distributors and retailers. For the convenience of media, the term ‘shipment’ is sometimes replaced by “sales” in the press release, but this reflects the market size in terms of units of consumer storage flash memory devices and not their absolute value. In the case of flash memory devices imported into the country, it represents the number leaving the first warehouse to OEMs, distributors and retailers.
