Donna Taylor, principle research analyst for the company's global storage quarterly statistics programme, described it as a "light at the end of the tunnel" after seeing a year-on-year decline of 7.3 per cent in the total revenue generated in the industry.
The study showed that the top three vendors for the quarter remain the same as they were in the same period in 2008, with EMC leading with 26.7 per cent market share and IBM and HP its closest competitors.
She said: "The prior two quarters in 2009 showed declines in the double digits. This is good news for storage vendors."
Ms Taylor explained that the statistics show that the impact of the global economic downturn is "loosening its grip" on the sector.
Last week, Gartner predicted that the increased investment in photovoltaic solar power generation could create new IT opportunities.
