News release

HP Continues Market Leadership in Worldwide Disk Storage

New report reaffirms HP's no. 1 position in key disk categories, including open SANs and external disk storage, sustained growth in NAS market

HP (NYSE:HPQ) maintained its No. 1 position in worldwide disk storage systems revenue for the third calendar quarter of 2003, according to a report issued today by market research firm IDC.⁽¹⁾

IDC reported that HP led in worldwide disk storage systems factory revenue with 26.4 percent revenue share and maintained its lead position in total external disk storage market share with 21.8 percent. This marks the sixth consecutive quarter in which HP has ranked No. 1 in the total disk storage market share, according to IDC.

In the open storage area network (SAN) market, which grew 15.7 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago, HP extended its No. 1 position with 31.2 percent revenue share. HP saw revenue growth of 18 percent year-over-year and gained share in all regions, excluding Asia Pacific. This is the fifth straight quarter in which HP has ranked No. 1 in the worldwide open SAN market, shipping more SAN units than IBM and Dell combined.

IDC also reported gains in HP's network-attached storage (NAS) market share in all regions with revenue growth of 28 percent quarter-over-quarter and 22 percent year-over-year. HP was one of only two vendors to gain share quarter-over-quarter.

"HP's sustained market leadership is powerful proof that we continue to execute extremely well and deliver on our promises to customers," said Bob Schultz, senior vice president and general manager, Network Storage Solutions, HP. "Our customers require network storage solutions and they rely on our network storage experience and leadership to help them build a more adaptive infrastructure for greater business agility, simplified IT management and reduced costs."

During the quarter, HP broadened its StorageWorks solutions portfolio through the delivery of numerous new and enhanced products and expanded industry relationships. Highlights included:

• HP extended its NAS portfolio with the introduction of the HP StorageWorks NAS 2000s, the company's first network-attached storage device built on the new Microsoft Windows® Storage Server 2003. In November, HP unveiled its complete portfolio of Windows-based NAS devices to meet the individual storage needs of customers ranging from small- and medium-size business to enterprise-class environments.
  
  
• In September, HP became the first storage and server vendor to articulate a comprehensive information lifecycle management (ILM) offering for the active management of data - from creation to deletion - based on changing business requirements. Since that time, HP has advanced its ILM offerings with the introduction of a comprehensive ILM partner program, the acquisition of Persist Technologies and the signing of an accord with Cap Gemini Ernst & Young to provide ILM and other solutions and services to enterprise customers.
  
  
• HP introduced enhanced functionality and services for its HP StorageWorks Enterprise Virtual Array (EVA) family, providing simplified management, expanded business continuity, improved availability and greater flexibility for customers' complex, heterogeneous storage environments. New functionality included HP StorageWorks Continuous Access EVA v1.1 and the introduction of HP OpenView Storage Operations Manager. HP also unveiled a new HP StorageWorks EVA Service Portfolio.

About HP

HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and institutions globally. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing. For the fiscal year ending on Oct. 31, 2003, HP revenue totaled $73.1 billion. More information about HP is available at http://www.hp.com.

⁽¹⁾ IDC, "Worldwide Quarterly Storage Systems Tracker," December 2003.

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