Much has been said in recent years about hard drives and their reality in today’s world, especially due to the significant democratization of SSD drives and their increasing reliability. For some, hard drives are obsolete technology and make less and less sense, an opinion that is respectable but collides head-on with the real needs of companiesand also from consumers, who continue to see HDDs as an excellent alternative to tackle certain projects and tasks.
Make no mistake, hard drives they still have a lot of life ahead of them, although it is true that SSDs are enjoying increasing popularity, and that sales of HDD units are declining. In this sense, it is interesting to bring up a Trendfocus report that confirms a significant drop in hard drive sales during the second quarter of 2022. Making a year-over-year comparison, we find an average decrease of 33%that is, from a third party.
In total, during the second quarter of 2022, some 45 million hard drives, which represents a significant year-on-year drop, as we have already said, but if we put these data in relation to the sales that this type of unit registered just a decade ago, we will realize the significant impact that SSDs have had on the market. , and the fall that hard drives have experienced. Thus, for example, in 2010, 650 million units were supplied, which leaves us with a quarterly average of about 162 million hard drives, a figure that almost multiplies by four the 45 million units sold this last quarter.
The drop has also been very marked in the general consumer sector, where HDD sales fell to 13 million units, although the decline has been notable and widespread, as it has also affected other important levels, including the OEM sector, the retail channel and the market for specialized video surveillance solutions. As a side note, it appears that 2.5-inch drives have seen the biggest drop, with shipments down 40% quarter over quarter.
We will see how the situation evolves in the coming quarters, but we can be sure that the current economic situation is not going to benefit the HDD market, rather the opposite, so it is very likely that sales continue to show a downward trend in the coming quarters. On the other hand, it is clear that the fact that Microsoft wants to do away with hard drives will not help either.
