According to IDC, the global enterprise external storage market reached $9.2 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up 22.7% year-over-year, achieving rare double-digit growth. All-flash arrays (AFA) captured 52.6% market share with $4.9 billion in revenue, up 32.7% year-over-year; hybrid flash arrays accounted for 37.8%, while traditional hard disk arrays fell to 9.6%. High-end systems priced above $250k surged 60.7% to $2.4 billion, reflecting the demand for large-scale AI infrastructure deployment. However, entry-level systems below $25k declined by 6.1%. IDC expects storage component prices, including SSDs, HDDs, and DRAM, to remain elevated through 2027, when new wafer capacity will come online.