Results Point to Solid High Growth
It is interesting to point out that our conversations with Hitachi Data Systems' COO, Jack Domme, and Chief Scientist, Claus Mikkelsen, did note that HDS' revenue grew 14% yr/yr with relatively balanced growth across the company's hardware (+5% yr/yr), software (low-30% yr/yr growth), and services – see further discussion below. The company also highlighted solid growth within Sun (mid-20% yr/yr) and HP – we estimate representing approximately 10-15% and approximately 20% of total HDS revenue, respectively. While these growth rates are impressive and would indicate that the Japan storage solutions business continues to struggle (note: we estimate that Japan accounts for ~20% of Hitachi's total storage solutions revenue), we would note that these growth rates do include favorable currency impacts. (13-May-2008)
Interview with Jack Domme, Chief Operating Officer of Hitachi Data Systems
Our conversations suggested that Hitachi has not seen a meaningful slowdown driven by the macroeconomic concerns we have been highlighting in our reports over the past few weeks. Mr. Domme noted that the company continues to see increasing adoption of its virtualization capabilities, which in turn could drive a favorable attach rate to the company's midrange platforms. We believe the March quarter at Hitachi could show some modest sequential growth, modest sequential growth during the March 2008 quarter would equate to low-double digit yr/yr growth, according to our estimates. We believe Hitachi again shipped 650-700 incremental USP-V systems/controllers during the March quarter, a trend that has been fairly stable over the past few quarters.
(12-April-2008)
Hitachi Gains 2PPTS High—End Market Share in CQ307
Hitachi reported 7% yr/yr growth in its storage solution revenue during CQ3 2007. The company reported strong double-digit sequential (low-single digit yr/yr) growth in its high-end USP sales, suggesting (1-2pp) share gains versus EMC and IBM. USP controller installed base expanded from 6,000 units exiting CQ2 2007 to ~7,300 units exiting CQ3 2007; indicative of a healthy ramp in the new USP-V. Hitachi was upbeat with regard to its backlog and industry trends looking into CQ4 2007; most notably on growth in Europe and Asia-Pac. (05-November-2007)
Hitachi gained share during CQ3 2007; USP V Ramping Steadily
The company continues to see a ramp in its new USP-V platform (integrates Thin Provisioning, as well as incorporates a back-end switched architecture), and ongoing relatively healthy growth in the midrange market (we did see some refreshes during CQ3 2007). The company also noted that it currently has an installed base of approximately 7,300 USP-series controllers in the market, up from 6,000 exiting the June 2007 quarter. Additionally, the company sees more than 50% of these solutions utilizing the UVM (Universal Volume Manager; Virtualization) software, up from less than 50% a few quarters ago. In this, the company estimates that 25-30% of these solutions provide virtualization in heterogeneous environments. (05-November-2007)
