Digital Storage
Consumers are recording their own CDs, and burning data and music to CD with gusto. Pricy recorders that formerly beckoned only early adopters are now lighter less expensive and much easier to use. CD recording catapulted sales of blank CDs, which rose a whopping 50 percent in 2003.
|
|
Blank Audio Cassettes Factory Sales |
|
|
|
Dollar Sales (Millions) |
Dollar Sales (Millions) |
|
2000 |
|
294 |
162 |
|
2001 |
|
246 |
129 |
|
2002 |
|
186 |
98 |
|
2003 |
|
149 |
77 |
|
2004 |
|
123 |
66 |
|
2005p |
|
97 |
50 |
Source: CEA Market Research, 1/05
Other storage options are coming to the fore, depending on specific consumer needs and desires. Sony staged a successful second coming of its MiniDisc and Video MiniDisc formats, which play only in Sony hardware, and the digital VHS tape also is making a splash as a desirable option to record high-definition television (HDTV) programming using traditional VHS-based VCRs. The infighting in the optical storage arena between supporters of HD-DVD and the Blu-ray camp continued throughout 2004 with no real end is sight, while the industry as a whole continues to make inroads in incorporating additional storage into MP3 players, cell phones and home networking devices.
|
|
Blank Video Cassettes* Factory Sales |
|
|
|
Unit Sales (Millions) |
Dollar Sales (Millions) |
|
2000 |
|
351 |
351 |
|
2001 |
|
366 |
357 |
|
2002 |
|
468 |
602 |
|
2003 |
|
394 |
527 |
|
2004 |
|
326 |
433 |
|
2005p |
|
289 |
396 |
*Includes VHS, VHSC, 8mm and DV tape. Source: CEA Market Research, 1/05
On the flip side, the growth of the CD and DVD formats means blank audio cassettes and video cassettes will continue their downward spiral through 2005. CEA projects factory unit sales of blank audio cassettes will plummet from an estimated $66 million in 2004 to $50 million in 2005. By comparison, just five years ago in 2000 those sales were at $162 million. Factory unit sales of blank video cassettes will drop from an estimated $433 million in 2004 to $396 million this year, CEA projects.
|
|
Flash Media* |
|
|
Sales To Dealers |
|
|
|
Dollar Sales |
|
|
|
(Millions) |
|
2000 |
|
456 |
|
2001 |
|
643 |
|
2002 |
|
910 |
|
2003 |
|
1,346 |
|
2004 |
|
3,064 |
|
2005p |
|
5,975 |
The storage sector's biggest boom comes in the portable realm. As digital content development continues to explode, the need for storage for portable devices such as MP3 players and digital cameras has reached critical mass. Portable media in the form of Compact Flash, Memory Stick, MMC and SD has emerged as a huge contributor to revenue in this sector. Flash media ended 2004 with a 200 percent growth rate to $3 billion and is projected by CEA to end 2005 by doubling those sales to approximately $6 billion as form factors shrink and capacity grows.
