IDC's European Storage Mechanisms: Optical/Removable service segments EMEA drive shipments by country, technology, channel, and form factor, providing clients with a greater insight into emerging trends. Quarterly updates and briefs include analysis of regional shipment numbers, pricing, and revenues, as well as examination of competitor strategies, providing clients with a comprehensive view of the market. Market expectations are forecast up to five years ahead annually, and over four quarters, updated every quarter to take into account short-term trends and events.

This service covers the following segments:

• Blu-ray drives and HD DVD drives
• DVD-ROM drives and DVD burners
• CD-ROM, CD-RW, and combo drives
• Other optical/removable drives

Throughout the year, this service will address the following topics:

• Factors driving demand for optical/removable storage devices in EMEA
• Potential new technologies and the impact they will have on market dynamics
• Analysis of key country and channel trends to determine specific regional patterns
• Insight into the competitive landscape, and how changing market shares affect strategies
• Pricing trends in EMEA on a quarterly basis
• The effects of revenue growth and decline for each of the technologies

This service addresses the following issues that are critical to your success:

1. How long will DVD burners remain the dominant optical storage drives?
2. What are the important new features for CD/DVD drives?
3. How quickly will blue laser-based optical drives reach the mass market?
4. What are the key dynamics in the HD DVD versus Blu-ray standards battle?
5. Will CD-ROM and DVD-ROM remain important technologies in the commercial PC market?
6. Will UDO or holographic drives and automation systems allow professional optical storage technologies to expand beyond niche markets?

IDC's European Storage Mechanisms: Optical/Removable service examines how vendors are positioning themselves to compete in the storage market. This service reviews strategies, market positioning, and future direction of several providers in the optical/removable storage market, including:

AOpen, BenQ, Freecom, Hitachi-LG, HP, IBM, Iomega, LaCie, LGE, Lite-On, Panasonic, Philips Electronics, Pioneer, Plasmon, Plextor, Samsung, Sony, Sony-NEC Optiarc, TDK, and Toshiba.

Throughout the year, this service will offer insight into the latest trends impacting the market. Potential studies include:

As well as timely data and forecasts, the end of each quarter also brings a study with greater insight into the market. Covered in more depth are pricing and revenue trends, as well as the latest view of vendor strategies.

Every spring, the service publishes a five-year forecast and analysis study. This document examines the past and future prospects for each technology, with written analysis and up-to-date forecasts.

IDC offers a complete market intelligence solution customized to meet your business requirements. The array of products and services available to you includes:

• The opportunity to have your specific questions answered through personal interaction with industry experts who cover the topics and markets in your service
• Around-the-clock access to our market intelligence on idc.com, IDC's personalized Web experience
• A view of the market's future with 12 months of continuous intelligence about its direction and the reasons behind it, along with actionable advice for taking advantage of existing and emerging opportunities
• Complimentary/special admission price to IDC's annual Directions conference, where you'll hear our latest forecasts and network with IDC analysts and other industry professionals
• Complimentary invitations to monthly executive telebriefings, interactive forums designed to provide you with insights about research and strategies directly from IDC analysts

To find out how our flexible packaging options can meet your specific business needs, please contact your IDC account manager.

As a privately held company, IDC believes that our customers are our primary constituency. A large percentage of every revenue dollar is reinvested back into our products, including more analysts, more geographic coverage, and extensive primary research.

Our steady growth over the past 10 years reflects our commitment to investing in our customers.