This IDC study provides IDC's 2004 worldwide market analysis and forecast for a critical component of the market for network storage solutions: Fibre Channel (FC) switches. It forecasts port shipments as well as factory and market revenue for the sale of Fibre Channel switches in four segments: chassis switches, 16?48-port fixed-port switches, 8?12-port fixed-port switches, and blade server?embedded switches.

This study discusses how future trends in volume and blade server shipments, the deployment of storage in small and medium-sized businesses, and competing technologies such as iSCSI will affect the competitive position of FC switch vendors. It also provides specific advice for these companies on how to best take advantage of the changing world of networked storage.

"The next two years promise to be a time of solid revenue growth for FC switch suppliers, as more companies move toward SAN-based storage architectures; however, changes in technology and the emergence of new product classes will ensure that the market remains highly dynamic," said Richard Villars, IDC vice president, Storage Systems. "The best new opportunities for revenue growth in FC switches will be in low-cost, fixed-port switches for SMBs and in blade server?embedded switches."