Worldwide Server Market Continues to Grow

Strong growth in server sales in Japan and Europe boosted the worldwide server industry 17.6 percent in the first quarter of 2001, according to preliminary statistics released by Gartner Dataquest.

Worldwide server shipments reached 987,842 units in the first quarter of 2001, up from 839,821 units in the first quarter of 2000.

Compaq once again held the top spot, capturing a 25 percent market share. Dell solidified its hold on the No. 2 position, garnering 16.9 percent of the market.

“Dell’s direct business model and aggressive price positioning put Dell at an advantage, especially during the current U.S. economic slow down,” Shahin Naftchi, senior analyst covering servers and workstations for Gartner Dataquest’s Computing Platform Worldwide program said in a prepared statement.

The server market in the United States paints a less rosy picture with shipments reaching 325,472 in the first quarter of 2001, an increase of 2.1 percent over the first quarter of 2000. Dell jumped into the No. 1 position for U.S. server shipments with its 29.1 percent market share. Compaq slipped to the No. 2 position, followed by IBM at No. 3.

“Dell continues to gain ground in the U.S. market as it benefits from its supply chain efficiency advantage and combines it with a strong customer relationship focus,” said Jeffrey Hewitt, principal analyst for Gartner Dataquest’s Servers Worldwide program.

“Compaq lost ground in the United States primarily to the focused attacks of opponents like Dell, while Hewlett-Packard appears to be struggling with some product feature deficiencies at the high end as well as effective sales execution,” Hewitt added.

Preliminary Worldwide Server Unit Shipment Estimates for Q1 (Units)
Company	Q101		Q100		Growth (%)
	Shipments	Market Share (%)	Shipments	Market Share (%)
Compaq	246,644	25.0	219,689	26.2	12.3
Dell	166,937	16.9	120,035	14.3	39.1
IBM	160,825	16.3	137,142	16.3	17.3
HP	106,200	10.8	99,511	11.8	6.7
Sun	69,433	7.0	58,510	7.0	18.7
Others	237,803	24.1	204,934	24.3	16.0
Total Market	987,842	100.0	839,821	100.0	17.6
Source: Gartner Dataquest

Reprinted from internet.com’s ServerWatch.