Dell serves up 100 per cent growth in UK servers

The latest figures from Dataquest's Q4 survey of the UK PC market put Dell at number two behind Compaq, and ahead of Fujitsu-ICL and IBM, and Hewlett Packard.

Dell attributes its growth to a switch in its direct sales model, which has been so successful with its PC business, and also the increased investment in servers from business users, particularly small businesses.

"We have attracted a whole new group of customers into the network market," said Philip Vanhoutte, managing director of Dell Direct. "In the past, networks were too costly for the smaller business to consider, but our direct model effectively removes the hurdle and puts the technology within easy reach."

Growth in server technology in Internet and intranet applications has also helped overall market growth, which Dataquest puts at 39.6 per cent.

"The market is in that fast growth phase," said Jackie O'Dwyer, Dataquest's PC market analyst. "All the server vendors are doing well. It's the usual story. Prices will continue to fall and sales will continue to grow across the board." O'Dwyer added that it's important to note that the vendors are building from a low base sales figure, therefore any growth tends to look dramatic.

Dell can be contacted by telephone on 01344-720000.