According to the latest research from data analytics company IDC (International Data Corporation), the external storage market in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) increased by just 2% during Q1 2013.

The market research firm stated that external storage revenue in MEA grew only slightly year-on-year to total $233 million. The South African storage market contracted by 16% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2013, as a result of a decline in projects for both Dell and IBM.

Within North Africa, more specifically Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, the market also continued to undergo a decline in external storage shipments during Q1 2013. IDC stated that this contraction was the result of political unrest within these countries, coupled with spiraling inflation.

In contrast to its African neighbours, Egypt’s external storage market grew significantly owing to projects in the telecommunications and government sectors. “We remain bullish on the African storage market considering the relatively small installed base and sporadic nature of large-scale enterprise projects,” said senior research analyst Swapna Subramani with IDC Middle East, Africa, and Turkey.

GCC nations

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries excluding the UAE and Saudi Arabia posted growth of 83% in the external storage market in the first quarter of the year, with Bahrain and Qatar each registering triple-digit growth. This market increase was bolstered by projects in the government and finance sectors of these countries’ markets. Saudi Arabia’s storage market expanded by 32% year-on-year during Q1 2013, with the growth engine of this market growth being several projects in the kingdom’s telecommunications and government sectors.

Top vendors

Among MEA vendors, EMC continued its dominance in the region by claiming more than 45% share of the total disk storage market. According to IDC, EMC’s performance was due on sizeable projects in Saudi Arabia, the UAE (United Arab Emirates), Qatar, as well as Egypt.

Netapp secured second place, with 11.5% market share in spite of flat year-on-year revenue. Closely on Netapp’s heels is IBM and HP, with around 11% market share each. Hitachi emerged as the bright spot among vendors, achieving triple-digit growth in Q1 2013, driven by projects in South Africa and Turkey.

“'The modest growth can be attributed to consistent business typical of the first quarter of the year in MEA. In the coming quarters, however, strong uptake of external storage systems in MEA is expected owing to large-scale deployments and projects across verticals,” Subramani concluded.

In related news, IDC also recently revealed that thin client PC sales will experience an uptake this year.