HD drive sales touch $450m

Dubai: Hard disc (HD) drive sales in the Middle East and Africa region remain robust, with sales amounting to $450 million in fiscal year 2008.

Manufacturers shifted around seven million disc drives in the region this year, a 21 per cent growth over 2007 sales, according to Sofocles Socratous, senior sales manager for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa at storage leader Seagate.

Seagate now holds 33 per cent of the local market for hard disc drives, the biggest share in the region.

Globally, a total of 183 million hard disc drives have been shipped by Seagate so far this year, generating $12.7 billion.

These figures are even more impressive when you take into account the consequences of the global credit crunch.

This region is the fastest growing in the world, with around 30 per cent of all hard disc drive business being generated here within the next three to five years, according to Socratous.

In Europe, 18 per cent of all hard disc drive business is already from this region.

While the industry isn't immune to the global financial turmoil, hard disc drives have remained in strong demand, pushing sales.

Strong

"Demand for external drives is pretty strong, although retail markets are suffering a little bit, especially in the US and the UK. We won't be immune to the crisis, but I hope we can ride out the financial situation relatively well," said Mark Whitby, Seagate's executive director for former Soviet Union and Middle East sales.

With reference to the lack of liquidity, Whitby noted that although products such as flat screen TVs might not be selling so well, hard disc drives are still extremely popular and selling well.

This may be due in part to the non-stop business mood in this region, especially as Dubai works to establish itself as a business and financial hub.

Socratous and Whitby were speaking to the media yesterday during Seagate's launch of the world's slimmest external hard drive currently available on the market and the first to offer a docking option.

The FreeAgent external hard drives are available for both Mac and Windows and come in a portable form or as desk drives.