Server market revenues: Microsoft catches up with Unix, Linux tops $1 bln

Linux servers posted their ninth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth with YTY revenue growth of 42.6% and unit shipments up 31.7%. This was slightly slower than the Q1 2004 revenue growth rate of 48.1% and Q1 2004 unit growth of 38.0%. Microsoft Windows servers, based on x86 server hardware, showed strong growth, as revenues grew 13.3% and unit shipments grew 19.1% YTY. Quarterly revenue of $3.9 bln for Windows servers represented 33.9% of overall quarterly factory revenue, essentially equal in size to the Unix market. Unix servers experienced 8.3% unit growth YTY and a 2.3% revenue decline over Q3 2003 with total Unix revenues of $4.0 bln for the quarter.

Linux server revenues surpassed $1 bln in quarterly factory revenue for the first time in Q3 2004. Linux server revenues showed 42.6% growth, while unit shipments grew 31.7%, reaching 9.2% of overall quarterly server revenue. Worldwide investment in Linux servers for both technical and commercial workloads remains strong as the platform continues to expand its presence in data centers around the world. HP maintained its number 1 spot in the Linux server market, with 26.9% market share in terms of revenue, while IBM was second with 20.5%. Dell maintained the third spot with 17.4% of Linux server spending.