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Consumer Electronics Products Driving Home Network Storage Market (2/11/2005)

The rapidly growing popularity of digital cameras and digital audio and video files is spurring the growth of the home network storage market, reports In-Stat. Unit sales of consumer network storage will grow by more than 50% over the next several years, the high-tech market research firm says. Although the market is relatively small, storage vendors have recognized this growth opportunity.

"During 2005, five more primary vendors entered the network storage market with product lines that targeted consumers," says Joyce Putscher, In-Stat analyst. "That almost doubles the number of major players that participated in 2004."

A recent report by In-Stat found the following:

- Challenges for vendors include providing the right combination of features and price points and consumer education about the difference between external PC hard drives and storage attached to a home network.

- A major feature being added is media adapter functionality to address the digital entertainment home networking explosion.

- The North American, Japanese & European markets will present great opportunities over the next few years.

The report, "Consumer Network Storage: Many Vendors Enter Market" (#IN0501963RC), covers discussions of market trends, suppliers, consumer survey results, and 2004 worldwide vendor market shares, and provides five-year forecasts by capacity, price tier, and geographic region for consumer network storage. In addition, a detailed vendor matrix on product lines and features is also presented.

www.in-stat.com