Worldwide hard drive shipments fell by 1,704 units in the first quarter of 2006

Worldwide hard drive shipments fell by 1,704 units in the first quarter of 2006, compared with Q4 2005, according to analyst iSuppli.

Seagate led the market with a 29 per cent share, based on shipments of 29,450 units. The vendor’s figures represent a market share increase of 1.1 per cent and a shipment increase of 630 units, compared with Q4 2005.

The vendor was closely followed by Western Digital with 18.5 per cent market share, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (14.4 per cent), Maxtor (11.9 per cent) and Toshiba (9.3 per cent). However, Hitachi, Maxtor and Toshiba all saw their market shares and hard drive shipments decrease compared with Q4 2004.

Hamish MacArthur, chief executive of analyst MacArthur Stroud International, told CRN: “The market is more stable than it used to be. The different markets that each drive vendor works in have an impact on overall shipments.”