• 2.5” External HDD continued its dominance with 92% market share.
• 3.5” External HDD shipments declined by 2% YoY.
• 2TB was the most popular capacity capturing 39% market share.
Gurugram/New Delhi, Mar 07, 2024: According to CMR’s India External Hard Drive Market Review for CY2023, the India External HDD (2.5” & 3.5”) market shipments witnessed a YoY decline of 17%. On the QoQ basis also, the market shipments dropped down by 73%.
“The significant decline in the HDD market in India can largely be attributed to the heightened awareness and education about the benefits of SSDs. Even though HDDs remain cost-effective for bulk storage, their slower speeds and limited innovation make them a less compelling choice for a tech-savvy India increasingly embracing speed and convenience. Moreover, the burgeoning presence of external SSD options has added to the competition, further eroding the popularity of HDDs in the market, observed Shipra Sinha, Senior Analyst – Industry Intelligence Group, CyberMedia Research.
In CY2023, the overall NAS shipments experienced a decline of 18% YoY, on a relatively smaller base. The 2Bay NAS emerged as the most preferred choice with 42% share, closely followed by the 4Bay NAS at 41% share.
CY2023 Highlights
Market Leadership
In the overall India External HDD market, Seagate secured the top spot with 41% market share followed closely by WD with 38% market share. Toshiba remained at the third position with a 16% market share and 3% YoY increase in its shipments.
Capacity Trends
2TB capacity was the most popular capacity capturing 39% market share followed by 1TB with 37% share.
Future Trends
By the end of CY2024, shipments of External HDDs (2.5″ and 3.5″) are anticipated to decline, owing to the rise of cloud storage services that has diminished the demand for traditional HDDs, offering users enhanced convenience and scalability.
As per Shipra, “The External HDD market is poised to continue its decline, particularly with the growing dominance of mobile and portable devices favoring SSDs for their lightweight and energy-efficient attributes. Additionally, the decreasing cost of flash memory, the foundational technology in SSDs, has intensified competition with HDDs. While the tide leans towards SSDs, initiatives like innovating higher-performance HDDs and market awareness through user education and partnerships can revitalize the HDD market in India and ensure its continued relevance in an increasingly digital world.”
Notes for Editors
1. Cyber Media 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 Hard Drives Market Review covers External HDD, NAS, Surveillance HDD 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 hard drive 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 hard drive devices and not their absolute value.
