EMEA External Storage Market Revenue Fell by 10,6% in 4Q16

Total EMEA external storage systems revenue fell by 10.6% in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to the IDC EMEA Quarterly Disk Storage Systems Tracker 4Q16. The all-flash market grew 53.6% in the region, driven mainly by Central and Eastern European growth. Meanwhile, the traditional hard disk arrays (HDD-only) segment fell by 37.9% and hybrid flash arrays fell 4.7%, bringing down the overall external storage systems market in the region.

Western European external storage market value continued to decline for yet another quarter in 4Q16, to $1.38 billion, down 7.9% YoY. Capacity, however, grew moderately (4.5%) to 2,789.4 petabytes. All-flash storage arrays (AFAs) continued to grow in strong double digits in Western Europe in the last quarter of 2016 to remain the only bright spot in the external storage category. Flash storage systems (AFA and HFA) together now account for over 60.4% of the total market in the region.

The last quarter of 2016 was marked by a significant decline in external storage market value in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (CEMA), dropping by 18% for $484 million capitalization. The only growth segment was AFAs, which recorded double-digit growth and nearly 20% market value penetration. The results for the full year were slightly better, with a 10% decline in total external storage and AFA doubling its share.

The market inhibitors from last quarter were still in place and these affected both CEMA subregions. Country-wise, the smallest CEE countries were better able to absorb EU funds to finance various storage projects and were less affected by the weaker macroeconomic situation in Western Europe. Postponed deals in government and banking were the major factor behind market underperformance at the end of 2016. On the other hand, the midmarket invested more heavily in flash technologies, both AFA and server-based, as part of consolidation projects that suppressed total external storage value.

The Middle East and Africa (MEA) storage market recorded a double-digit decline in 4Q16 and the full year. Most countries contributed to this decline, with large infrastructure projects constantly delayed due to political instability; the market was also affected by economic stagnation and oil-dependency, which are directly related to storage spending in the region — a trend that is gradually diverging. The appetite for flash storage remained high, boosted by AFA offerings with bundled richer data services, general-purpose workload applications, and lower price points.