Dell Computer was the only top-five vendor to post year-on-year
revenue growth in the server market during the third quarter,
according to research released this week by IDC.
Total worldwide server revenue for all suppliers was $10.6bn
(£6.8bn) for the quarter, a 5.6% decline over last year's third
quarter, during which businesses struggled with the aftermath of
the September 11 attacks in the US.
That 5.6% decrease is the smallest year-on-year drop the server
market has seen in the last eight quarters, according to IDC, which
hailed the slowing decline as a sign that the server market is
stabilising. Results in the fourth quarter should continue to
improve, the research firm said.
Dell's server revenue for the quarter climbed 7.5% to $920m
worldwide, placing it fourth for market share based on revenue.
Market leader IBM, with nearly a 30% share, saw its revenue slip
0.4%, while number-two vendor Hewlett-Packard's revenue dropped
15.8% to $2.88bn. Sun Microsystems ranked third, with revenue down
3.4% at $1.28bn.
IDC's findings tally with Gartner's third-quarter figures, released
in October. Calculating according to unit shipments rather than
revenue, Gartner reported 18.1% growth for Dell worldwide amid
declines for IBM and HP.
Sun, however, posted growth according to the Gartner data, with
unit shipments up 17.5% year-on-year worldwide.