IBM steals back server lead from HP

Worldwide server revenue in the first quarter of 2008 increased 2.5 percent over the same quarter last year, according to updated statistics by Gartner, Inc. In May, Gartner released results that showed worldwide server revenue grew 4.3 percent compared to the same period last year. However, new findings have resulted in Gartner updating the numbers for the first quarter of 2008. “Based on updated guidance and additional analysis of the data, we have revised the revenue statistics for the first quarter of 2008,” said Jeffrey Hewitt, research vice president at Gartner. “We commented in the previous release that HP and IBM continue to vie for market leadership in the worldwide server market based on revenue. This is still the case but the updated data shows that IBM maintained the No. 1 vendor position in worldwide server revenue in the first quarter of 2008.” The previous data showed Hewlett-Packard had taken the lead in worldwide server revenue. The updated statistics show IBM accounted 29.4 percent of worldwide server revenue in the first quarter of 2008. Hewlett-Packard was the No. 2 vendor with its market share representing 28.3 percent of worldwide server revenue. HP was the leader in worldwide server shipments in the first quarter of 2008 with its market share totaling 30.1 percent. Dell posted a 15.8 percent growth for the quarter. IBM increased 2.3 percent and Sun grew 6.6 percent. Fujitsu/Fujitsu Siemens was the only global vendor to decline—it shrunk 2.6 percent. Additional information is available to subscribers of Gartner Dataquest’s Servers Quarterly Statistics Worldwide program. This program provides worldwide market size and share data by vendor revenue and unit shipments. Segments include: region, vendor, vendor brand, sub brand, CPU type, CPU group, Max CPU, platform, price band, operating systems and distribution channels.