US Consumer NAS Market to Reach $4.4 Billion in 2014

DVRs and video downloads will push the storage needs of U.S. broadband
households to almost one terabyte by 2014, creating a parallel rise in
the market for file backup and storage solutions, according to
international research firm Parks Associates.

The firm’s new report Consumer
Storage Opportunities ($3,200, 60 pages) finds almost 50%
of households are performing regular backups, including external
storage, flash drives, and online backup, up from only 35% in 2006.

"This is a classic example where growth in one area is spurring
another industry," said Pietro Macchiarella, research analyst, Parks
Associates. "As people accumulate more digital content, the prospect
of losing that data becomes more ominous. Companies marketing
network-attached storage (NAS) and home server devices should target
high-use consumers such as videophiles and music enthusiasts and
demonstrate the ease with which these products protect against loss of
critical data."

Macchiarella predicts that consumers’ backup methods will become more
sophisticated as files get larger and as people invest more time and
money into their digital media collections.

"The majority of consumers still use less-reliable media such as CDs,
DVDs, and flash drives, but in the past four years, portable hard
drives and direct- and networked-attached storage have become more
popular," he said. "This trend will accelerate, fueled by growth
in digital media and dropping storage costs. In particular, product
revenues from NAS devices will nearly quadruple between 2010 and 2014."