• Pen drive category continued its dominance with 67% share.
• MicroSD card shipments recorded 15% YoY growth.
• 32GB was the most popular capacity with 38% share.

Gurugram/New Delhi, Nov 29, 2023: According to CMR’s India Consumer Storage Flash Devices Market Review Report for Q3 CY2023 released today, the India Consumer Storage market (Micro SD, Pen drive and SD card) shipments recorded 15% YoY growth in Q3 CY2023. The market shipments also increased by 15% QoQ.

Shipra Sinha, Analyst – Industry Intelligence Group, CyberMedia Research said, “The MicroSD card category continues to face persistent challenges, attributed to the widespread adoption of smartphones with larger internal storage capacities. Nevertheless, during Q3 2023, the undeniable allure of special festive season offers played a pivotal role in propelling growth for both the MicroSD and Pen drive markets. Notably, the Pen drive market emerged as the primary driver, experiencing a substantial 17% year-on-year growth in shipments.”

Q3 CY2023 Highlights

SanDisk led with a dominating 57% market share, followed by HP at 10% with a substantial 42% YoY growth in shipments. Kingston secured the third position with an 8% YoY growth.

Future Trends

CMR anticipates the MicroSD cards market to witness single digit decline by the end of CY2023. In contrast, the Pen drive market is poised to achieve a YoY growth between 15%-20% by the end of CY2023.

“The increasing storage capacity of smartphones poses challenges to the MicroSD card market. Conversely, the demand for On-The-Go (OTG) drives is expected to fuel the growth of the Pen drive market. Despite these challenges, the integration of MicroSD cards into a diverse range of devices, encompassing smartphones, IoT devices, cameras, drones, and portable audio players, has expanded their utility. This trend will likely serve as a catalyst for the future growth of the MicroSD market, as these devices often rely on MicroSD cards for expandable storage,” stated Shipra.

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.
2. 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.