Global external controller-based disk storage revenue was up 10.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2008 at $4.3bn (£2.2bn), compared with the same period last year, says Gartner.

EMC led the market with a 24.1 per cent share and $1bn (£512m) in revenue, up from $924m (£473m) last year. IBM followed with 11.3 per cent of the market, but revenue was down 1.5 per cent at $492m (£252m).

Storage is still sought after, said Robin Burke, research vice president for Gartner’s global Storage Quarterly Statistics programme.

“A revenue growth of 10.2 per cent worldwide year on year indicates that the storage market is still in strong demand," he said.

"Capacity shipments grew 48.9 per cent year on year to 1.1 million terabytes, showing the continuing mounting need for additional storage."