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Consumer Digital Media Apps Driving Storage Use

Apparently, the consumer network storage (CNS) market appears to be migrating beyond its innovator roots, which could be a key factor contributing to its continued growth.

According to the latest market study by In-Stat, major vendors are now focusing on customer education, awareness and ease-of-use to influence consumer demand and increase wider adoption.

This is meaningful progress, in my opinion. I've been evaluating the mobile hard drive storage options, and there is very little purchase guidance information from vendors -- about how to select the best-fit drive for your particular needs (in my case, video editing and storage).

"Despite intense market competition, the six largest players increased market share in 2009. But with narrowing product differentiation, competition will shift to ease-of-use, functionality and brand awareness," says Norm Bogen, In-Stat analyst.

This combination of maturing market dynamics and a renaissance in the consumer home technology environment will push the growth of the consumer network storage market beyond the innovator stage and into its early adopter phase by 2014.

In-Stat's market study found the following:

- The market will continue to mature as customer education and ease of use drive adoption, and market share is concentrated among the leading vendors.

- Price will become more of an issue; even the high-end CNS products will not exceed $800 per unit.

- Web-enabled consumer devices, such as TVs and Blu-ray players, are diversifying the demand and applications for CNS devices.

- The consumer network storage market will grow at a CAGR of nearly 40 percent between 2009 and 2014.

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