Ten million U.S. households will have a networked storage device by 2010

The number of U.S. households with a networked storage device will grow from 300,000 at the end of 2004 to nearly 10 million by 2010, according to Storage and Management for the Connected Home, a new report from Parks Associates. A networked storage device connects to a router and allows shared access among multiple PCs and other networked devices, as defined in the report. The addressable market for these devices includes households with home networks and those with multiple PCs. By 2010, 17% of U.S. households with multiple PCs and one-fourth of those with a home network will have a networked storage device.

“Consumers, once they realize the danger of losing their valuable digital assets to hard drive crashes, virus attacks, or other uncontrollable events, feel a strong need for a robust backup solution,” said Yuanzhe (Michael) Cai, senior analyst at Parks Associates. “For households with multiple PCs or a home network, a centralized storage that can be shared among multiple platforms makes a lot of sense.”

Storage and Management for the Connected Home identified several factors that are driving this market, including declining price, the entry of major hard drive and home networking companies, consumer awareness campaigns sponsored by these vendors, the emergence of system-on-a-chip solutions, and better designed software solutions.

“The industry will push 400,000-600,000 units through the channel in 2005,” Cai said. “To further grow the pie, vendors need to educate consumers about the importance of frequent and systematic backup, increase consumer awareness of networked storage solutions, collaborate with retail channels, and focus on simple, automatic backup and easy sharing as the primary value propositions.”

Storage and Management for the Connected Home examines the market for two advanced connectivity concepts – secure and easy-to-use storage / backup solutions and network management offerings. It provides an overview of the industry, profiles leading players and solutions, offers primary consumer data regarding adoption and interest, and forecasts market growth.