Asia consumes more external controller-based disk storage

In external controller-based storage, the disk and RAID (redundant array of independent disks) controller operate outside of a host server.

Topping the list of external controller-based disk storage vendors are Hewlett-Packard, IBM and EMC, all of which posted double-digit growth. Market leader HP garnered a 24.8 percent share of the market, with the company's EVA and MSA product series accounting for more than 65 percent of HP's total numbers.

IBM leapfrogged EMC to clinch the second spot with 18.5 percent of the market, a slim margin over EMC's 17.3 percent. Big Blue's newly-launched DS 8000 and DS 6000 series helped reverse some of the declines experienced during the second half of 2004, while EMC's Symmetrix and the NAS gateway product categories accounted for much of its revenues.

The fastest growing storage vendor in the region is Dell, which grew almost 93 percent over the same period of time in 2004, although from a "relatively smaller base", according to press statement released by Gartner.

The only company whose revenues took a dip on a year-on-year basis in the region was HDS, with a decrease of 3 percent.