The Consumer Network-Attached Storage market has low household penetration across the globe but is growing in excess of 30% annually, according to Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com). I’ve long hoped for an Apple home server product. Now may be the perfect time for one.

The number of portable consumer electronics (CE) and computing devices in the home has grown over the last couple of years, and it will literally explode over the next few, notes Research and Markets. The need and use for NAS centralized storage will become more practical for one reason: accessing content.

In a network with multiple computing devices, sharing common storage, content access and media sharing becomes a key component of driving consumer value. Research and Markets believes that this will push worldwide consumer NAS unit shipments past 11 million in 2015. The research group thinks that:

° The consumer NAS market opportunity will continue to be driven by consumers that use a number of portable CE and computing devices in the home and demand remote access to their content.

° Europe will claim over 50% of all consumer NAS unit shipments in 2015. The estimated household penetration of consumer NAS in North America will be 4.4% at year-end 2015.

° Worldwide revenue for the consumer NAS market was approximately $678.4 million in 2010.

There's certainly an opportunity for Apple home network equipment as there's no company better positioned to automate some of the most common diagnostic and configuration tasks.

-- Dennis Sellers