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iSuppli: Wal-Mart: The King of Flash Storage Devices
(M2 PressWIRE Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)
RDATE:23102007
El Segundo, Calif. - It's already the world's largest retailer and the
biggest corporation in the United States, but now Wal-Mart can add a
new distinction to its list: America's leading seller of flash storage
devices.
Wal-Mart accounted for about 20 percent of U.S. flash-storage device
retail sales in the second quarter, according to iSuppli Corp.'s
ConsumerTrak-U.S. Flash Storage Device Service. This made Wal-Mart the
leading retail seller of such devices during the period, followed by
No. 2 Best-Buy with an 18 percent share and third-ranked Circuit City
at 7 percent.
The average density of flash storage devices sold by Wal-Mart in the
second quarter was 1Gbyte, right at the sweet spot for consumer demand.
The flash-storage device category includes USB drives for PC data
storage and removable memory cards for electronic devices like digital
still cameras. iSuppli's ConsumerTrak service researches technology
sales and demographic trends by surveying U.S. consumers on their
attitudes and purchasing habits. The service includes OEM sales
analysis in addition to retail.
The U.S. market for such devices is expanding rapidly, with the retail
and OEM shipments of removable flash cards expected to more than double
to 243 million units by 2011 from 118 million in 2007. U.S. Shipments
of USB flash drives are expected to rise to 64 million units in 2011,
up from 37 million in 2007.
Worldwide shipments of removable flash storage cards and USB Flash
drives will reach 1.5 billion and 308 million respectively by 2011.
The retail premium
While Wal-Mart leads the market, the company doesn't offer the lowest
prices for flash storage devices in the United States, according to
iSuppli's ConsumerTrak service. Online-only retailers such as Buy.com
and Amazon.com, which provide consumers with flash storage devices that
have a higher capacity per dollar compared to the industry average.
In contrast, Wal-Mart s flash-storage device prices were higher than
the industry average in the second quarter.
Beyond Wal-Mart, most traditional discount retailers such as Cotsco
charge more for flash storage devices than the industry average.
Because of this, bargain shoppers have been flocking to online only
sellers. However, not all traditional retailers charge more for flash
storage devices than their online competitors.
Certain retailers, including OfficeMax, Office Depot and MicroCenter,
offer consumers competitive pricing.
However, among the nation's Top-10 retailers of flash storage devices,
Fry's Electronics provides the best value to consumers, the
ConsumerTrak survey revealed.
"Traditional retailers have high fixed costs compared to online-only
stores, driving up their sales prices, particularly for
highly-commoditized items like flash storage devices," said Nam Hyung
Kim, director and chief analyst, memory ICs/storage systems at iSuppli.
"Retailers will continue to struggle to compete against online-only
stores, especially since consumers don't place a high priority on store
availability of the devices."
Supply chain success
Amid these market realities, flash storage device suppliers that
maintain a virtually integrated supply chain-from NAND flash chip
production, to device manufacturing, to marketing-will have an
advantage in the industry, according to Kim. Such suppliers include
SanDisk, Lexar Media, Toshiba and Samsung.
Flash card and USB drive suppliers are competing vigorously to gain
more spaces on store shelves.
As the flash device market continues its rapid expansion, and the level
of competition continues to ratchet up, understanding consumer
attitudes and buying patterns is becoming increasingly important.
iSuppli's new service, ConsumerTrak - U.S. Flash Storage Devices,
provide an extremely valuable analysis for retailers and all other
parties involved in Flash storage device supply chain.
All Information and Intellectual Property Contained Herein is the Sole
Property of iSuppli Corporation
About iSuppli Corporation
iSuppli Corporation is the global leader in technology value chain
research and advisory services. iSuppli provides market intelligence
services for the EMS, OEM and supplier communities in addition to
servicing consumer electronics and media concerns. Services afforded by
iSuppli range from electronic component research to device-specific
application market forecasts, from teardown analysis to consumer
electronics and from display device and systems research to multimedia
content and services. More information is available at www.isuppli.com
CONTACT: Jonathan Cassell, Editorial Director and Manager, Public
Relations, iSuppli Corporation
Tel: +1 408 654 1714
Tel: +1 408 921 3754 (Mobile)
WWW: http://www.isuppli.com
((M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information
provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties.
Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at
http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to
info@m2.com)).
Copyright 2007 M2 Communications Ltd.
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