Global server sales up 6.9% in Q2: IDC

SAN FRANCISCO: Global sales of computer servers rose 6.9 percent in the second quarter from a year ago to $11.5 billion, the fifth straight quarter of growth, market research firm IDC said.

IDC's figures follow similar findings by rival market research firm Gartner, which reported that global sales of servers rose 7.7 percent to $11.6 billion in the second quarter.

Growth in the second quarter was fueled by two factors: First, by a 21 percent raise in global sales of so-called volume servers, which IDC classified as those costing $25,000 or less, and, second, by a 6.1 percent year-over-year sales growth in high-end servers, those costing $500,000 or more, IDC said.

"The pattern in spending during the quarter demonstrates the bifurcation of the server marketplace, with growth at both the high and low ends of the computing spectrum," said Matt Eastwood, an analyst at IDC, in a statement.

Sales of mid-range servers, those priced between $25,000 and $500,000, declined 11.7 percent in the second quarter from a year ago.

IDC analyst Jean Bozman said the trend of low-end and high-end server sales growth reflects the continuing popularity of the Linux operating system, which can be copied and modified freely, and companies consolidating the functions of many servers onto fewer, larger high-end servers.

Unit shipments of servers rose 22.7 percent in the second quarter, reflecting strong growth in volume servers.

As in past quarters, sales of servers using versions of Linux sold by companies were brisk, with year-over-year revenue growth in the second quarter of 48.9 percent with unit shipments rising 38.2 percent.

Sales of servers using Microsoft Corp's. Windows operating system software, running on Intel Corp.-compatible microprocessors, climbed 13.2 percent as unit shipments gained 25.3 percent from the year-earlier period.

In terms of computer server companies, IBM held on to its No. 1 spot in the worldwide server market with 32.5 percent market share as measured by sales, IDC said.

Hewlett-Packard Co was No. 1 as measured by units shipped and maintained the No. 2 spot in terms of revenue with 27.1 percent share.

Sun Microsystems Inc saw a 33.8 percent increase in unit shipments in the second quarter from a year ago, the largest increase for a top-5 server maker in the second period, IDC said. It also regained its No. 1 position in the worldwide market for servers running the Unix operating system.