Technology advancements, changing dynamics in the PC industry, new enterprise server and storage architectures, and near-term hard disk drive (HDD) shortages are all combining to propel the worldwide solid state storage (SSD) market higher from 2011 through 2015.

"2011 was a record year for the worldwide SSD market, with revenue more than doubling year over year due to strong SSD shipment growth in the enterprise and client segments," said Jeff Janukowicz, research director, solid state storage and hard disk drive components at IDC.

According to new research from International Data Corp. (IDC), the worldwide solid state storage industry revenue reached $5 billion in 2011, a 105% increase from the $2.4 billion in 2010 and IDC expects the market will expand further in 2012 and beyond. IDC expects worldwide SSD shipments to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 51.5% from 2010 to 2015.

Pricing remains a key metric for SSD adoption in both the client and enterprise markets. IDC expects client SSD prices will fall below $1 per gigabyte in the second half of 2012, which will boost adoption in the PC market.

"The increasing use of flash in enterprise solutions, explosive growth of mobile client devices, and lower SSD pricing is creating a perfect storm for increased SSD shipments and revenue over our forecast," added Mr. Janukowicz.

There are a number of dynamics influencing the PC market, from the growth in media tablets and Ultrabooks to the upcoming introduction of Windows 8 and increased use of caching solutions such as dual drives (systems containing both an SSD and an HDD). IDC believes the net effect of these dynamics supports increased SSD shipments.

The flood in Thailand is disrupting the PC supply chain and the HDD industry's ability to supply the market near term. OEMs will certainly face unavoidable HDD shortages and higher HDD prices in 1H 2012. These shortages will present a significant short term opportunity for SSD vendors as OEM customers look to SSD vendors to fill HDD supply gaps.

The adoption of solid state storage as a complementary solution to HDD storage for enterprise applications is also driving SSD market growth.

Tags: SSD, NAND, Flash, IDC