Driven by slower sales in the IA32 segment, the Latin America server market suffered declines in shipments and revenue in the first quarter of 2003, according to Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT and ITB). Server shipments in Latin America declined 2.7 percent in the first quarter of 2003, while server revenue dropped 2.8 percent from the first quarter of 2002.

"'Lower levels of investment in technology in Venezuela and most countries in the region affected the Intel server segment of the market which, in turn, affected the entire market. In contrast, Brazil and Mexico showed slight gains, and Argentina experienced a partial recovery,'" said Lillian Alvarado, senior industry analyst covering servers for Gartner's Computing Platforms Latin America group.

Source: "Gartner Says Latin American Server Market Declined 3 Percent in the First Quarter of 2003," May 28, 2003

"'The worldwide server market performed better than expected in the first quarter of 2003, but the threat of a lingering war with Iraq, combined with a weak economy, still had an effect on IT spending during the quarter,'" said Shahin Naftchi, principal analyst covering servers for Gartner's servers worldwide group. "'As a result, the life cycle for existing large systems was extended and corporate buyers delayed purchases of high-end equipment, preferring the quick returns from short-term investments instead.'"

"'Dell led the top-tier U.S. vendors in shipment growth with an increase of 24 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago, and that is in part due to the strengths of its partnerships, ranging from database offerings with Oracle to its storage solutions with EMC,'" said Jeffrey Hewitt, principal analyst for Gartner's servers worldwide group. "'HP's performance in the first quarter of 2003 could have been impacted in part by server seasonality, which is normally weaker in the first quarter of the year following a strong fourth quarter.'"

Source: "Gartner Says Worldwide Server Shipments Increased 10 Percent in the First Quarter of 2003," April 28, 2003

"'While mostly large corporations are keeping up with their IT purchasing plans, medium and small-sized businesses are strongly affected by the contraction of the economies,'" said Lillian Alvarado, senior industry analyst covering servers for Gartner Dataquest's Computing Platforms Latin America group.

Server revenue in Latin America suffered a larger decrease than units because of the greater contraction in the RISC segment of the market. "'This segment has been hit harder by unfavorable economic conditions in the region because of partial migration toward lower priced Intel servers. All major vendors in this segment experienced lower shipments and revenue,'" Alvarado said.

Source: "Gartner Dataquest Says Business Slowdown Resulted in Large Declines in the Latin America Server Market in 2002," February 24, 2003

Worldwide server shipments totaled 4.6 million units in 2002, a 4.2 percent increase from 2001 shipments, according to preliminary statistics by Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner, Inc.

"'The performance of the worldwide server market continues the growth pattern which began in the first quarter of 2002, suggesting that server shipments for the worldwide market may be stabilizing, but not showing signs of dramatic growth due to continued economic pressure in a number of regions,'" said Shahin Naftchi, senior analyst covering servers for Gartner Dataquest's Computing Platform Worldwide program.

"'Most of HP's growth is fueled by IA servers which accounts for about 95 percent of HP's overall shipments. HP completed the customer transition from the NetServer to the ProLiant brand, and it appears that a percentage of the old NetServer customers have lost their inhibition to move to the ProLiant brand, which helped HP to retain that customer base,'" said Jeffrey Hewitt, principal analyst for Gartner Dataquest's Servers Worldwide program. "'The majority of Dell's sales are occurring below the $25,000 segment. This market has seen an increase in shipments because of the poor economic situation.'"

Source: "Gartner Dataquest Says Worldwide Server Shipments Increased 4 Percent in 2002," January 24, 2003

"'The Asia/Pacific region represents a small component of worldwide server revenue, but in the global market, growth is hard to come by, so IT vendors and service providers are becoming increasingly focused on this region,'" said Matthew Boon, principal analyst for Gartner Dataquest's Asia/Pacific Computing Platforms group.

"'Investments have focused on such issues as server consolidation and blade server advantages by the multinationals, which has fueled the competitive nature of the Asia/Pacific server market and led to sustained growth in this segment,'" said Jennifer Wu, principal analyst for Gartner Dataquest's Asia/Pacific Computing Platforms group.

"'Growth is being driven by strong demand from the Asia/Pacific finance sectors, especially banking, coupled with continued investment from many of the region's governments as they seek to capitalize on the benefits of IT,'" Boon said.

Source: "Gartner Dataquest Says Asia/Pacific Server Industry to Experience Stronger Growth in 2003," December 18, 2002

"Asia/Pacific server revenue totaled $1.12 billion in the third quarter of 2002, a 1.4 percent increase from the same period last year, according to Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner, Inc. China continued to rank No. 1 in server revenue in Asia/Pacific, with 29.9 percent market share, but it also experienced a 10.2 percent decline in revenue in the third quarter of 2002 compared to the third quarter of 2001."

"'Despite the server revenue decline in China, growth in mature markets such as Australia and Korea, coupled with significant emerging market increases, such as in Indonesia and India, resulted in positive revenue growth for the region,'" said Matthew Boon, principal analyst for Gartner Dataquest's Asia/Pacific Computing Platforms group.

Source: "Gartner Dataquest Says Asia/Pacific Server Revenue Increased Slightly in Third Quarter of 2002," November 21, 2002.

In the third quarter of 2002, server shipments in Latin America declined 12 percent, while Latin America server revenue dropped 16.1 percent from the third quarter of 2001, according to Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner, Inc.

"'IBM was the top vendor in server revenue in the IA, RISC and mainframe segments of the market. However, most of IBM's revenue still comes from the mainframe segment,'" said Alvarado. "'IBM had a strong increase in shipments in the IA 32 server market, but this segment continues to be dominated by HP through its Compaq brand. Nevertheless, HP is facing more competition in the IA 32 market by IBM, Dell and local vendors in Brazil and Mexico.'"

Source: "Gartner Dataquest Says Latin America Server Market Suffered a Double-digit Decline in Third Quarter of 2002," November 15, 2002