Worldwide external disk storage systems factory revenues fell -1.4% year over year to nearly $5.9 billion during the second quarter of 2014 (2Q14), according to the IDC research group (www.idc.com).

For the quarter, the total (internal plus external) disk storage systems market generated almost $7.8 billion in revenue. The modest 0.3% year-over-year increase was driven by strong internal storage sales within Asia/Pacific and emerging markets. Total disk storage systems capacity shipped was 11.5 exabytes. Growth of new capacity consumption improved during the quarter, but the 23.9% year-over-year growth was still relatively low by historic comparisons.
 
"High-end storage sales fell for the fourth consecutive quarter in 2Q14," says Eric Sheppard, research director, IDC. "The high-end decline was not as striking as last quarter but it was coupled with a drop in midrange sales, suggesting weak demand is spreading to other parts of the market. Bright spots within the global storage market include growth from entry level storage and increased sales within EMEA and Latin America."

The total open networked disk storage market (NAS Combined with non-mainframe SAN) fell -1.2% year over year to $5.1 billion in revenue.