Analyst Predicts Eightfold Increase in New Storage Capacity by 2012

Strong growth in digital storage demand is driven by higher-resolution content creation and distribution as well as archiving and digital preservation, the report claims.

Data storage analyst and consultant Coughlin Associates will reveal a survey report Jan. 6 at the Storage Visions conference in Las Vegas that predicts an eightfold increase in new digital storage capacity and the doubling of storage-related revenues over the next six years.

The Atascadero, Calif.-based firms 130-plus-page, fourth annual report on data storage and the entertainment market—the 2007 Entertainment Content Creation and Digital Storage Report—indicates that the strong growth in digital storage demand is driven by higher-resolution content creation and distribution as well as archiving and digital preservation.

The report analyzes requirements and trends in worldwide data storage for entertainment content acquisition; editing; archiving and digital preservation; as well as digital cinema, broadcast, satellite, cable, network and VOD distribution. Capacity and performance trends are presented and media projections are made for each of the various market segments, a Coughlin spokesperson said.

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Industry storage capacity and revenue projections include direct attached storage, on-line as well as near-line network storage. Market share for content creation storage hardware for these three categories of storage systems are given for 2006.

Some other findings presented in the report include:

• About 54 percent of the total storage capacity was used for content archiving and preservation in 2006. This is expected to increase to 72 percent by 2012.
• The 2006 storage media breakdown for all the digital entertainment content segments was 72 percent tape, 15 percent optical disk, 10 percent hard disk drives and 3.4 percent flash memory.
• By 2012 this should change to 28 percent, 30 percent, 35 percent and 7.4 percent for tape, optical, HDDs and flash respectively.
• There is a significant switch to network from direct attached storage for non-linear editing.
• ATA HDD arrays are becoming the dominant mode for fixed content storage.
• HDDs and holographic optical will take market share from tape for archival applications.
• New DCI standards are driving digital storage for feature film distribution.
• Digital cameras using optical media, flash memory, and hard disk drives are gaining momentum over traditional video tape.

An initial presentation of some report results will be given at the 2007 Storage Visions Conference on Jan. 6 and 7 in Las Vegas. A listing of the report table of contents as well as a list of figures and tables and the executive summary is available in the technical reports section of the Coughlin Associates Web site.

Copies of the report in PDF format can also be ordered using the Web site PDF form.

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