Compaq extends server lead

Compaq has increased its hold over the UK server market with a 39 per cent share in the third quarter of this year, according to a recent report. Compaq has seen strong growth this year from 35 per cent in the first quarter and 38 per cent in the second.

The figures from analyst Dataquest put Dell second at 9.6 per cent of the server market, with Hewlett-Packard at 8.3 per cent, and Fujitsu ICL and IBM both at 5.2 per cent.

Dataquest's figures come just a handful of weeks after a report from market research firm IDC claimed that Compaq's ProLiant 5000 range of high-end servers holds 80 per cent of the server and super server market.

"Compaq is strong in UK corporates and has managed its installed base well," said Chris Jones, Dataquest's research analyst for the European PC Group. "But Dell's really pushing its servers and has seen a 100 per cent increase in sales year on year from Q5 1995." He said that the companies to watch out for next year are Dell and Hewlett-Packard.