Verbatim Europe announced that it increased its market share by 20% compared to the previous year and has now climbed to be among the three biggest-selling brands in the European storage media market.
For more information visit: www.verbatim-europe.com
Unedited press release follows:
Verbatim among Europe’s top 3
Egham, UK, 5th May 2010 – In 2009, Verbatim increased its market share by 20 per cent compared to the previous year and, according to information from the market research firm GfK, has now climbed to be among the three biggest-selling brands on the European storage media market. Verbatim’s growth not only involved an expansion of its market leadership in optical storage media, but also the gaining of significant ground in USB drives and portable hard drives. In the 2010 financial year, Verbatim expects to consolidate its position and is aiming for further growth in these product segments.
* Number 1 worldwide on the optical storage market for the seventh time in a row*
* Number 3 in Europe on the overall market for storage media**
* Number 4 in Europe on the USB drive storage market*
* Number 5 in Europe on the portable hard drive market**
A year of growth
Verbatim concluded the 2009 financial year on a very successful note. With a market share of 7.3 per cent in 2009 compared to 5.4 per cent in 2008**, the company has climbed for the first time to rank third on the overall market for storage media in Europe, according to figures released by the market research company GfK.
External hard drives and USB drives as the engines of growth
In the portable hard drives sector, Verbatim has increased its market share from 5.1 per cent in 2008 to 6.2 per cent in 2009**, making it a top 5 supplier in Europe. Following a successful start with HDDs in the summer of 2007, Verbatim achieved a breakthrough on the external hard drives market in 2008 with extremely high growth rates in terms of volume and value across the whole of Europe. The takeover of Freecom in the autumn of 2009 by the Japanese parent company Mitsubishi Kagaku Media (MKM) was a further important strategic step aimed at achieving synergies and strengthening Verbatim’s position in the market. Here, Verbatim is focusing on the portable HDD segment, which is currently undergoing extremely dynamic growth. The company is aiming for a market share in this segment of 10 per cent in Europe in 2010.
Successful development in the USB drives sector has also contributed towards Verbatim’s growth last year. All in all, according to the Santa Clara Consulting Group (SCCG), over 57.7 million USB drives were sold in Europe. Compared to 2008, Verbatim increased its market share from 3.8 per cent to 5.4 per cent, reaching fourth place on the highly competitive USB drive market. With a wide range of hardware-encrypted USB drives that match companies’ latest security requirements, and with the focus firmly on solid state drive (SSD) technology, the company will continue to position itself on the flash market in 2010 as a premium quality provider.
Technology and market leadership for optical storage media
For the seventh time in a row, Verbatim is confirming its global technological and market leadership in the field of optical storage media. In 2009, Verbatim expanded its market share further with high-quality Blu-rays, DVD-Rs and CD-Rs, according to the Santa Clara Consulting Group.
In view of the high number of optical drives installed, sales remain at a very high level, despite the shrinking market. Total sales of DVD-Rs fell from 1.6 billion in 2008 to 1.3 billion in 2009. Verbatim was able to maintain its market share of 43 per cent. Consequently, more than one in three DVDs came from Verbatim. The company is aiming for a market share of up to 50 per cent in 2010. On this background, the consolidation of suppliers will continue.
Business has developed particularly positively with Blu-ray discs. Last year in Europe, sales tripled compared to 2008 – and growth of 300 per cent is expected for 2010. In 2009, Verbatim dominated the European market and plans to expand its market-leading position even further. The manufacturer is profiting from the research and development activities of its parent company MKM. These have enabled new technological developments to be implemented quickly.
2010 is the year for stabilising third place
“Not only being the clear market leader for optical storage media, but also being among the top three for all recording media, represents a massive breakthrough for Verbatim, since it confirms that Verbatim has managed to expand its success with optical storage to flash-based storage solutions and hard drives. For 2010, the aim is to stabilise this trend with the strategy that has brought success for years: a broad portfolio of high-quality, reliable and innovative storage media with high levels of stock availability locally, expert and personal retail partner support and the use of state-of-the-art sales systems for our partners. This year, our focus lies both on the constant expansion of the Blu-ray range to external hard drives in the 2.5” format, where we will be offering even more attractive solutions following our parent company Mitsubishi Kagaku Media’s takeover of Freecom. Our goal is to expand our range of products even further in the removable storage media segment and achieve a market share of 10 per cent,” says Rüdiger Theobald, Marketing & Business Development Manager EUMEA at Verbatim. “The high number of objective magazine test awards that have been won by Verbatim products in 2009 are further proof that our brand delivers only premium quality. In 2010, this quality is again the key to our success and the further expansion of our position as the all-rounder of the storage media market.”
*Santa Clara Consulting Group (SCCG)
**GfK December 2008-November 2009 reference period
About Verbatim
Since 1969, Verbatim has been shaping the development of data storage technology – from Floppy Disks and Magneto-Optical storage media, CD and DVD formats to the latest High Definition media Blu-ray. Moreover, Verbatim offers high quality products in the field of Portable USB Drives, Flash Memory Cards, SSD and External Hard Drives in 4,57cm (1,8“) Pocket, 6,35cm (2,5“) Portable and 8,89cm (3,5“) Desktop-Format as well as a broad variety of computer Accessories. Verbatim is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical Group and benefits from the outstanding research and development department. With these innovations Verbatim has played a key role in shaping the storage media market. Ultra-strict quality controls during the manufacturing process ensure the high quality of Verbatim’s products, which have been the winners of numerous international comparative tests. The company is the worldwide market leader for Optical Media. For more information, please visit www.verbatim-europe.com.