COVID-19 Pandemic Boosts Demand for Solid State Drives

The International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts strong growth in global SSD demand and sales revenue over the next four years. IDC estimates that the Solid State Drive unit shipment will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.8% until 2025. During the same period, SSD sales revenue will grow at a CAGR of 9.2% for a total of $51.5 billion by 2025. These estimates are based on the current SSD demands, heavily influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

IDC has also reported that worldwide solid-state drive capacity shipments will increase at a CAGR of 33% between 2020 and 2025. IDC notes several reasons for the increased SSD demand, the primary one being that a large number of people will be working remotely due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. New NAND-flash technology, and the lower drive prices that it will bring, should also affect the global demand.

Jeff Janukowicz, research vice president at the IDC, said, “The pandemic has accelerated the need for transformation, and worldwide demand for SSDs has increased because of this trend.” Countless people worldwide are currently working or studying from home, while many companies invest in cloud technologies that increase the demand for SSDs in the enterprise market.

According to the same IDC report, traditional HDDs will experience even larger growth at a CAGR of 18.5% until 2025. The International Data Corporation extrapolated this data from looking at the increased demand for gaming hard drives, enterprise storage, and video surveillance systems. IDC also expects increased sales of entry-level storage devices and consumer electronics products, which should further boost HDD demand and sales. The research director at IDC, Edward Burns, said that the pandemic affected the demand for specific storage drives, especially capacity-optimized ones and those used in mobile devices.