Brazil's data storage market is expected to be worth US$500mn in 2005, up 25% from US$400mn in 2004, the US Commercial Service (CS) said in a report. The figures cover internal and external storage devices such as disks, tapes and software storage systems, but do not include storage services, which can be expected to add to the overall figure. Forecasters expect an even higher growth rate for 2006 compared to 2005, and according to IDC, the Brazilian market will demand storage capacity of over 30 petabytes a year by 2009. Brazil's IT market as a whole is expected to be calculated at more than US$12bn for 2005, an increase of 15% on 2004, CS added. Rather than merely aiming for the best compromise between capacity and price, CS expects storage buyers to also consider how effectively and efficiently new storage systems can be integrated. The banking sector is expected to be particularly fertile ground, already responsible for 30% of storage equipment sales in Brazil.