Recession fears hit server market

Demand for servers has fallen as companies continue to worry about the recession and an over capacity as a result of the internet spending spree, according to figures from analyst Gartner.

IBM is the market leader thanks to resurgent sales of its reconditioned Linux-based mainframe line.

However, Sun Microsystem's sales dropped two per cent to 15.4 per cent of the market, while third-placed Compaq dropped 0.9 per cent to 13.9 per cent.

Hewlett Packard (HP), in fourth place, dropped 0.1 per cent to 12.8 per cent, while Dell managed a 0.1 per cent gain to 6.4 per cent.

Gartner's report found that the Unix server market fell 18.7 per cent, from $25.3bn in 2001 to $20.6bn in 2000.

Sun is still the market leader, even though its market share shrank 3.1 per cent to 35.2 per cent, with sales of $7.3bn. HP, which holds second place, increased its market share by one per cent to 20.5 per cent, with sales of $4.6bn.

IBM also did well in the Unix market, increasing its share by 2.3 per cent to 20.3 per cent, with sales of $4.2bn.

Dell gained the most in the Intel server market, increasing 0.5 per cent to 17.6 per cent, with $3.1bn in sales. But number one Intel server seller Compaq lost 1.6 per cent share, dropping to 26.3 per cent with $4.5bn in sales.

The overall Intel server market dropped 16.2 per cent, from $20.5bn to $17.2bn, Gartner said.