Mobile storage becomes in demand as consumers subscribe to digital content. (Photo : Reuters)
The demand for large memory storage on new mobile phones and devices continues to grow exponentially, as the latest gadgets built on big data and the Internet of Things are estimated to increase further new developments in the mobile storage market, according to Shanghai's China Business News.
The presence of digital content on mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras and computers has catalyzed the sudden rise of the mobile storage market in China, as stated by Gary Wang, vice president of commercial sales and support in the Asia-Pacific region of SanDisk, maker of flash memory devices.
As consumers demand for higher memory storage on their devices, mobile storage has now turned into an indispensable part of daily life, the paper said.
Moreover, the growing number of people sharing information and photos online using their devices has built a steady demand for mobile storage production.
Market researcher IDC released statistics that show 2.4 million digital photos are captured each minute, projecting a total of 106 trillion digital pictures to be generated in 2015. IDC also noted that out of every 10 images, seven are being taken through mobile devices.
Internet surfing, mobile applications, and frequent use of camera phones contribute to the majority of the mobile storage demand in China, which has grown to be the largest market for smartphones in the world, the paper added.
High-quality photos and swift capture speeds also play a big part in the demand for storage. Currently, new smartphone models come with internal storage ranging from 8 to 128 gigabytes, though SanDisk estimates high-end products to come with an average internal storage exceeding 50 GB.
Statistics from Counterpoint Research proved that 65 percent of iPhone buyers selected models with the higher memory capacities 64 or 128 GB, and Wang stated that this translates into good business for the memory card industry.
Strategy Analytics, a market research firm, expected that 4.1 billion smartphones will be sold from 2014 to 2016, with 75 percent of these products coming with a microSD card slot.
Tablet PCs are also estimated to reach 800 million in sales, while 475 million of them will possess a slot for microSD, the report said.
These projections represent only a portion of the storage market, since other devices, such as drones, dashboard camera and wearable devices, can also utilize mobile storage, Wang said.
Despite the slow movement of smart devices following years of steady growth, the report stated that the demand is off to soar again with the advancement of big data and sector of the Internet of Things.
