Gartner Dataquest Releases 2002 Server Shipment Stats

Gartner Dataquest’s worldwide server market stats for 2002 show a server market that continues to make a slow rebound.

According to the research and advisory firm’s initial stats, worldwide server shipments for 2002 totaled 4.6 million units, a 4.2 percent increase from 2001 shipments.

“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.

The U.S. server market experienced a strong resurgence in 2002, Gartner Dataquest notes. Server shipments increased 13.8 percent to a total of 1.9 million units. Much of this growth is being attributed to low-end server sales, however, as revenue has remained relatively flat.

The Asia-Pacific region saw shipment growth amid uncertainty as governments across the region increasingly focused on national security. The constant issuance of travel advisories to many of the key growth markets also impacted business in general.

The Latin America server market continued to suffer from the difficult economic conditions prevailing in the region.

The Europe, Middle East, and Africa server market ended 2002 by on a positive note after a pick up in demand in the last weeks of December. Gartner Dataquest believes, however, that revenue will decline once again as a result of competitive pricing and product mix influences.

In terms of the major players, Hewlett-Packard remained in the top spot in the worldwide rankings with 30 percent of server shipments. Dell Computer remained in the No. 2 spot with 18.5 percent of the market. IBM followed with market share of 14.3 percent. Sun Microsystems and NEC completed the top-5 with shares of 6.0 percent and 2.2 percent respectively.

Of these leading players, only Dell and Sun saw an increase in in the number of worldwide server shipments in 2002

Note: The data for Hewlett-Packard and Compaq have been combined.
Source: Gartner Dataquest (January 2003)

The U.S. server market experienced positive growth during all four quarters of 2002. Overall, the U.S. server market grew 13.8 percent in 2002 with shipments totalling 1.9 million units, up from 1.7 million in 2001. A lack of corresponding revenue growth, however, indicates that most of the increase occurred at the lower end of the pricing spectrum, and the market itself is still stagnating.

Playerwise, HP held on to the No.1 position, garnering 26 percent of the market. Dell came in right on its heels, accounting for 25 percent of servers shipped in the United States. IBM, Sun, and Gateway trailed.

“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,” Hewitt added.

Note: The data for Hewlett-Packard and Compaq have been combined.
Source: Gartner Dataquest (January 2003)

Gartner Dataquest emphasizes that these results are preliminary. Final statistics will be available shortly to clients of Gartner Dataquest’s Servers Quarterly Statistics program. More information about these programs can be obtained at +1 408 468 8000.