07/12-03   -   Pressemeldinger

Western European Server Market Sees Positive Annual Revenue Growth for the First Time in Nine Quarters, Says IDC

Measured on a current dollar basis, annual factory revenue growth in the Western European server market turned positive in the third quarter of 2003, for the first time since 1Q01. Overall, factory revenue of $2.9 billion was generated in the quarter, representing growth of 5.5% year-over-year. However, though the dollar gained some ground against the euro, on a constant dollar basis, revenue growth would have remained marginally negative. With 20.1% annual growth, unit shipments continued to grow significantly and maintained the trend displayed already in the first two quarters of 2003. Total server unit volume reached 312,325 unit shipments in 3Q03.

Naturally, x86 volume remained the driving force behind the strong double-digit server market increase, growing 23.3% from 3Q02 to 3Q03. EPIC servers also grew in unit terms and more than doubled in revenues achieved, though the share of the Intel 64-bit architecture remained small in the overall market.

"We are beginning to see green shoots in the industry," said Thomas Meyer, director of IDC´s Server Group. "Some industry sectors, such as telecommunications and finance, which have been quiet in recent times, are beginning to come back. Similarly, there is renewed activity in the large project sector. However, sales cycles remain lengthy, and the cost focus means that prices continue to be under pressure for simple box as well as solution sales."

Commenting on the midrange enterprise market (server systems priced at $25,000-$499,999), Nathaniel Martinez, senior analyst in IDC´s European Server Group, added "The midrange enterprise market segment has been very slow over the last two years, but for the second consecutive quarter showed an upturn in revenue growth. In 3Q03, the Unix RISC midrange enterprise market saw revenues increase by 24.7%."

The small and medium-sized business segments were again the main accelerators of unit shipment sales. Price pressure and more product launches into this market meant that average system prices dropped again - compared to 3Q02, the average price fell 12%.

Vendor Performance Highlights
Measured in current dollar factory revenues, IBM remained on top in 3Q03, generating growth of 16.1% to reach $927 million. HP continued to lead unit sales, and despite a small annual decline in revenues, compared to 2Q03, HP closed the gap on IBM to 1.2% revenue share points. Sun Microsystems retained its third position, but is increasingly under pressure from fourth-ranked Fujitsu Siemens Computers, which has been performing consistently. With just over 31% growth in unit shipments, Dell again performed very strongly with its PowerEdge systems, though price dynamics in this market meant that Dell could only extend its revenue share marginally.

Market Highlights
· The x86 market grew by 23.3% in unit shipments but by only 2.4% in revenue.
· Unix RISC units grew by only 1.1% but revenues increased by 5.5%. Fuelled by product launches and hefty price declines, the highest growth came from the low-end segments in the price range to $6,000, and in the $50,000-$99,999 range as well as $1M-$3M area.
· EPIC system sales were up over last quarter and also a year ago, growing by close to 7% in units and more than doubling in revenues.
· Blade systems continued to grow significantly and represented 4.2% of overall server system unit sales in 3Q03.

Both Windows and Linux generated strong increases in shipments. Compared to 2Q03, Windows held its unit market share, Linux nudged up slightly, Unix was stable, and Netware declined only slightly. In revenue terms, Windows picked up the strongest share increase.

IDC´s Quarterly Server Tracker
IDC´s Quarterly Server Tracker is a quantitative tool for analyzing the server market on a quarterly basis. The Tracker includes quarterly shipments (both ISS and upgrades) and revenues (both customer and factory), segmented by vendor, family, model, region, country, operating system, price band, CPU type, and architecture. For more information, please contact Thomas Meyer on +44 (0) 20 8987 7203 or email tmeyer@idc.com

About IDC
IDC is the premier global market intelligence and advisory firm in the information technology and telecommunications industries. We analyze and predict technology trends so that our clients can make strategic, fact-based decisions on IT purchases and business strategy. Over 700 IDC analysts in 50 countries provide local expertise and insights on technology markets. Business executives and IT managers have relied for 40 years on our advice to make decisions that contribute to the success of their organizations.

IDC is a division of IDG, the world´s leading technology media, research, and events company. Additional information can be found at www.idc.com

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For more information, contact:
Thomas Meyer
+44 (0) 20 89 87 72 03
tmeyer@idc.com

Terry Cummings
+44 (0) 20 89 87 72 31
tcummings@idc.com

Nathaniel Martinez
+44 (0) 20 89 87 71 84
nmartinez@idc.com