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IBM today announced it reached the number one position in the hardware storage market (combined disk and tape storage) in the fourth quarter of 2005, achieving a tie for the top position, based on a newly released report by leading industry analyst firm IDC[1]. IBM's combined disk and tape storage revenue in the fourth quarter of 2005 placed it ahead of Sun/StorageTek, Dell, EMC and Hitachi.

IBM's hardware storage business showed the strongest growth compared to all major vendors. Based on IDC's data, IBM's fourth quarter 2005 sales resulted in a 23.8% worldwide disk and tape storage revenue share, in a virtual tie with HP, which reached 23.2%, for the top share position in combined disk and tape storage systems.

"IBM continues to advance its position in the overall storage market, surpassing EMC and the other players," said IBM Storage General Manager Andy Monshaw. "Clients are incorporating all aspects of storage, from tape, to disk to software to help them manage the flood of data. IBM stands alone in providing the most comprehensive storage portfolio, which is why clients are increasingly turning to IBM to help them implement and cost effectively manage their storage assets."

IDC noted in its report that it expects companies with complete portfolios of disk and tape storage offerings to leverage them to their advantage in coming quarters[1].

IBM's number-one storage hardware ranking was driven by major gains as reported by IDC previously. IBM was number one in 2005 in worldwide branded tape drive and automation revenue, capturing 28% of the total $4.82 billion market[2]. In addition, IBM posted the fastest external disk storage systems sequential revenue growth in the fourth quarter of 2005 among the top three external disk storage vendors, also according to data by IDC[3]. In growing 49 percent sequentially worldwide, IBM outpaced both EMC and