Server Highlights Q3 2011
- Revenues declined by 2% year on year in Q3
- Unit shipments grew by 3%
- Total server market revenues were $64.1 billion in the year to the end of September
- x86 server revenues were $43.0 billion
- Installed Base grew to 4.13 million
We’ve been updating our server sizing for q3 2011 and notice a slight decline in revenues. As we have said elsewhere the signs in Q3 2011 were very similar to those in Q3 2008 – just before we went into the last recession. Revenue declined more than we expected, but both unit shipments and installed base increased – the former to 342k and the latter to reach 4.13 million.
HP Continues To Lead The World Server Market
We show the market shares of the leading server hardware vendors in Figure 2. It demonstrates the lead HP has in the market overall (24.8%) and in x86 servers (30.2%). We believe it and other brands have lost out to the use of white box servers in large data centres built to host Public Cloud Computing. IBM is a close second as always in the overall market (20.1%), while Dell, with a 16.8% share, is second in the x86 server market.
Some Conclusions – Tough Times Ahead
We believe we are on the edge of a downturn caused by the extremely poor economic conditions in Europe and the US. The downturn in server revenues is one of the first signs. We’re looking at other hardware markets for comparison. However we believe there are good strategies to pursue – especially in Cloud Computing and bundled systems for SMB customers which will help maintain business levels.
Please contact us if you would like access to the updated pivot table from which these highlights are drawn.