FRAMINGHAM, MA – The worldwide enterprise storage system semiconductor market will grow to $1.3 billion by 2012, a CAGR of 6%, says IDC.

The semiconductor demands of the storage system market are compelling OEMs to move quickly to grab as much of the market as they can, or face being shut out by enterprise customers, according to the research firm.

However, the storage systems market opportunity for semiconductors will fluctuate throughout the forecast period, as a result of pricing pressures coupled with technological changes. IDC believes the emergence of iSCSI and fibre channel-over-Ethernet products, as well as the growing need for SAS expanders/multiplexers and storage services processors, will be growth drivers.

To capture a significant share of the storage system semiconductor market, semiconductor vendors should carefully watch the market dynamics among the following technologies: 10GE/iSCSI from a SAN perspective, FcoE, and SAS, says IDC.