Compaq boasts infuriate EMC

Storage leaders square up for a spat...

Storage specialist EMC has dismissed Compaq's claims that it now leads the worldwide market for storage hardware, and has described the assertions as "plain untrue".

Compaq today issued a statement drawing attention to recent research from analyst houses IDC and Gartner Dataquest, which gave it top ranking in eight out of 12 storage market categories.

Compaq says this figure tells the whole story on leadership in the storage sector, with a shift in customer attitudes altering the landscape radically in its favour.

However, a spokesman for EMC said the claim was untrue: "Compaq's figures only make any sense if you look at units shifted, not revenues brought in, which means Compaq is looking at storage as a commodity. They're basically talking about boxes."

He said EMC beat Compaq in every category when it came to recorded revenues: "It's not how many kicks of the ball you get that counts, but how many goals you score."

He also added that the statement showed Compaq was trying to deflect attention after it lost its market leadership position in internal and external storage sales - the metric it has previously used to advertise its success.

Robin Burke, principal analyst for Gartner Dataquest, agreed that Compaq's professed dominance extended only as far as units shipped: "Compaq has taken as much as it can get in putting the best light on its position without saying anything factually untrue. However EMC is undoubtedly the market leader when it comes to revenue."