This IDC update considers the 2008 disk and tape storage market dynamics in the overall Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) or APEJ region and its 13 country markets, namely, Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, the People's Republic of China (PRC), Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

On a more in-depth level, this update seeks to explore the relationship between disk and tape storage in understanding how each technology caters to either a discrete function in the infrastructure. The role of disk and tape storage technology has recently witnessed a more specialized role in the areas of primary and backup storage. As interest in virtual tape libraries (VTL) and removable hard disk drives (RHDDs) grows, understanding the roles of these storage solutions becomes an important factor. IDC leverages its breadth of coverage of the APEJ storage market from a combined disk and branded tape storage perspective.

The first section of this update highlights the situation overview of the APEJ market and the prevailing market conditions in 2008. This is followed by an assessment of the APEJ disk and tape market mix and illustration of key storage vendors' performance. We finish with an outline of the forecast including the market share and product mix of individual country markets and an in-depth discussion of the three largest country markets.