Gartner Says Worldwide Server Shipments Grew 12 Percent While Revenue Grew Almost 6 Percent in Second Quarter of 2008

STAMFORD, Conn., August 21, 2008 — Worldwide server shipments for the second quarter of 2008 increased 12.2 percent over the same quarter last year, while worldwide server revenue for the same period climbed 5.7 percent according to Gartner, Inc. Worldwide server revenue totaled $13.8 billion for the second quarter, as worldwide servers shipments reached 2.3 million units.

"In spite of economic constraints in some markets like the United States, on a worldwide basis, servers continued to grow in the second quarter of the year,” said Jeffrey Hewitt, research vice president at Gartner. “The most significant driver in the quarter continued to be an upswing in x86 server replacements that started in the first quarter. This, coupled with Web data center build outs and growth in emerging markets, produced solid Q2 results.”

“RISC-Itanium Unix servers fell 7.9 percent in shipments but grew 9.4 percent in revenue indicating that higher-end systems were the hardware platforms that drove sales in this space,” Mr. Hewitt said.

IBM maintained the revenue lead in the worldwide server market for the quarter (see Table 1). It had solid increases in both its System p and System z brands which offset some revenue declines in its other brands. This produced a year-to-year revenue increase of 11.5 percent for the period and pushed IBM’s share up 1.6 percent. IBM’s overall revenue share lead over second-place HP was 3.6 percent for the quarter.

Dell and HP had revenue increases for the period. Fujitsu/Fujitsu Siemens and Sun both experienced revenue declines.

Table 1
Worldwide: Server Vendor Revenue Estimates, 2Q08 (U.S. Dollars)

Company	2Q08 Revenue	2Q08 Market Share (%)	2Q07 Revenue	2Q07 Market Share (%)	2Q07-2Q08 Growth (%)
IBM	4,315,049,933	31.2	3,870,937,408	29.6	11.5
Hewlett-Packard	3,811,555,998	27.6	3,703,108,934	28.4	2.9
Dell Inc.	1,795,295,686	13.0	1,561,405,756	12.0	15.0
Sun Microsystems	1,633,955,195	11.8	1,753,434,866	13.4	-6.8
Fujitsu/Fujitsu Siemens	492,821,856	3.6	493,498,046	3.8	-0.1
Other Vendors	1,761,944,639	12.8	1,678,799,374	12.9	5.0
Total	13,810,623,307	100.0	13,061,184,384	100.0	5.7

Source: Gartner (August 2008)

In server shipments, Hewlett-Packard grew 8.7 percent compared to the second quarter of 2007, and retained its worldwide server shipment lead. The share gap between it and second-place Dell decreased 3.4 percentage points for the quarter (see Table 2). HP finished the quarter with a 30.2 percent shipment share for the period. HP’s growth came from its ProLiant, HP Integrity and HP NonStop brands. HP pushed its blade server shipment share upward 3.6 percent to reach a total of 45.2 percent for the quarter.

Dell posted a 24.2 percent growth for the quarter. All the remaining global vendors, Fujitsu/Fujitsu Siemens, IBM and Sun all had shipment increases in the single digits for the period.

Table 2
Worldwide: Server Vendor Shipment Estimates, 2Q08 (Units)

Company	2Q08 Shipments	2Q08 Market Share (%)	2Q07 Shipments	2Q07 Market Share (%)	2Q07-2Q08 Growth (%)
Hewlett-Packard	706,724	30.2	650,371	31.2	8.7
Dell Inc.	577,163	24.7	464,650	22.3	24.2
IBM	308,835	13.2	295,088	14.1	4.7
Sun Microsystems	96,510	4.1	94,969	4.6	1.6
Fujitsu/Fujitsu Siemens	61,077	2.6	59,142	2.8	3.3
Other Vendors	590,732	25.2	522,442	25.0	13.1
Total	2,341,041	100.0	2,086,662	100.0	12.2

Source: Gartner (August 2008)

Additional information is available to subscribers of Gartner Dataquest’s Servers Quarterly Statistics Worldwide program. This program provides worldwide market size and share data by vendor revenue and unit shipments. Segments include: region, vendor, vendor brand, sub brand, CPU type, CPU group, Max CPU, platform, price band, operating systems and distribution channels.

 

Contact:


Christy Pettey
Gartner
+1 408 468 8312
christy.pettey@gartner.com


About Gartner:
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. Gartner delivers the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, Gartner is the indispensable partner to 60,000 clients in 10,000 distinct organizations. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has 4,000 associates, including 1,200 research analysts and consultants in 80 countries. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.