Server shipments up by a quarter

x86 servers provided the only real bright spot in an otherwise gloomy picture

Global server shipments increased by 27 per cent in the second quarter of 2010, according to new figures from analyst firm Gartner, with x86 systems enjoying the biggest gains.

Echoing new research by IDC, Gartner said mid-market x86 systems were the biggest sellers, while sales of other types of hardware remained 'constrained'.

Out of all system formats, blade servers had the strongest overall growth, with shipments up by 17.8 per cent and vendor revenue by up 32.8 per cent.

"X86-based servers grew 28.9 per cent in units in the second quarter and 37 per cent in revenues," said Jeffrey Hewitt, research vice president at Gartner.

"RISC/Itanium Unix servers remained constrained, with declines of 16.5 per cent in shipments and decreases of 8.8 per cent in vendor revenues, compared to the same quarter last year. The 'other' CPU category, which is primarily mainframes, fell 22.8 per cent in revenues for the quarter.”

Gartner, like IDC, puts HP top in terms of worldwide server market share with just under a third. HP managed to increase its server revenues by 3.1 per cent year on year, while only two other firms in the top five – Dell and Fujitsu – grew their revenues during the period.

The EMEA region saw the most servers shipped at 583,500 units – up 18 per cent against the same period last year. Revenues were $3.2bn, a growth of around four per cent.

Adrian O’Connell, research director at Gartner cautioned against reading too much into this growth, explaining that the market had been due a return to form.

“While the market has recorded strong growth, we need to recognise that this is growth from a low base, and the market remains significantly below the pre-downturn levels of 2008,” he said.

“Growth is being driven by the pent-up demand for replacements but ongoing economic concerns continue to limit overall levels of investment.”