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Server sales surge: IBM share jumps; HP top dog; Oracle's Sun perks up

By | May 25, 2011, 3:57am PDT

Server sales continued to surge amid a strong corporate upgrade cycle. Global server market revenue jumped 12.1 percent in the first quarter to $11.9 billion from a year ago, according to IDC data.

Unit shipments came in 1.9 million units in the first quarter, the second highest total ever for the first three months of the year.

All flavors of servers—volume, mid-range and high-end enterprise—saw gains. Demand for x86 servers remained strong and IBM saw gains for its Power systems and System z servers. The quarter was so strong for servers that even Unix servers showed sales gains for the first time in 11 quarters.

As for the standings, HP remained top dog with 31.5 percent market share courtesy of gains for its ProLiant and Integrity servers. Dell held on to the No. 3 spot and Oracle’s Sun unit remained No. 4 with 6.5 percent market share. Cisco had 1.6 percent share.

The big takeaways:

  • IBM is surging in the high-end market.
  • Oracle’s Sun unit isn’t a doormat anymore and is moving boxes.
  • Cisco is limped into the “other” category, but is showing strength in blade servers.

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Topics

Hewlett-Packard Co., Oracle Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc., IBM Corp., Servers, Sales Strategy, Hardware, Sales, Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic.

Disclosure

Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan has nothing to disclose. He doesn’t hold investments in the technology companies he covers.

Biography

Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic. He was most recently Executive Editor of News and Blogs at ZDNet. Prior to that he was executive news editor at eWeek and news editor at Baseline. He also served as the East Coast news editor and finance editor at CNET News.com. Larry has covered the technology and financial services industry since 1995, publishing articles in WallStreetWeek.com, Inter@ctive Week, The New York Times, and Financial Planning magazine. He's a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and the University of Delaware.

For daily updates, follow Larry on Twitter.

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You must read the study linked to in the post.
rayber1 25th May 2011
@mister spock
i talk in general (article) , the companies that buys servers dont care about OS , the company cares only production money ... nothing less . can be windows , linux ect .....
View in thread
0 Votes
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IBM Surge
facebook@... 25th May 2011
The last time that I recall IBM beating HP in the quarter was when IBM cam to project managers and exchanged Servers for Services.

IBM: "If you agree to $1,000,000 in Services, we will give you this shiny new blade chassis and servers."
Project Manager: "Sure, the data center is not my cost center, I'll take two".
Data Center Manager: "WTF?"
CIO: "Data Center Manager, when are you going to have those new servers deployed?"
IDC: IBM Sales are up!
0 Votes
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RE: Server sales surge: IBM share jumps; HP top dog; Oracle's Sun perks up
matricellc 25th May 2011
@facebook@...
Ha ha. Funny. Maybe they misspelled servers....
0 Votes
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How can this be?
Will Pharaoh 25th May 2011
Windows servers represented 48.5% of overall quarterly factory revenue and 75.2% of all quarterly server shipments.

Windows server is dead from what some people here keep telling me.
0 Votes
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RE: Server sales surge: IBM share jumps; HP top dog; Oracle's Sun perks up
dimonic 25th May 2011
@Will Pharaoh
Yeah, we HAD to buy a Windows server to then wipe it and install Linux.
0 Votes
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So, there are no Linux servers, and you needed to buy a Windows server?
adornoe@... 25th May 2011
That does not compute.

Why pay for something and then flush the money you paid for it down the toilet? Why not pay for a Linux server to begin with?
0 Votes
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That's so much BS - all the companies above offer Linux
Will Pharaoh 25th May 2011
@dimonic
or OS less servers. As a matter of fact you have to specify what OS, (If any) you want at time of sale for most purchases.

Nice try though, may have worked with the unknowledgeable 2 or 3 people here happy
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RE: Server sales surge: IBM share jumps; HP top dog; Oracle's Sun perks up
jinishans 25th May 2011
@dimonic No one would buy your argument. Why would anyone want to pay for MS to install a Free Unix/Linux OS. They can simply build the h/w and install it. Try again with something else dude.
0 Votes
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I am with the others here in
John Zern 25th May 2011
@dimonic
believing you are being a little less then honest.

I have to choose the OS at the time of ordering, so I know that they just don't force Windows on you.
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RE: Server sales surge: IBM share jumps; HP top dog; Oracle's Sun perks up
Linux Geek 25th May 2011
@Will Pharaoh
Windows server is dead from what some people here keep telling me.
Great news! Linux has put the final nail in the M$ coffin!
0 Votes
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I have to catch your stand-up act sometime
Will Pharaoh 25th May 2011
@Linux Geek
you're such a comedian!
0 Votes
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Linux has put the final nail in the M$ coffin?
Rick S._z 25th May 2011
Thanks for the snicker. IDC, of course, only counts OS *SALES*. If you run a coded-in-house variation on Beowulf, as many of the world's largest Server farms do, then your racks and blades don't count.

Now for my joke in return:
If "Oracle?s Sun unit isn?t a doormat anymore and is moving boxes", then we're (somewhat) celebrating an injury to the Vampyr by the Mummy...

They're both "undead zombies". One walks the earth because it's wrapped in ZFS bandages, and (as we all know from years and years of getting bitten in the ass).... the other one just wants to suck your blood. ALL OF IT.
0 Votes
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HMMM
MichaelWells 25th May 2011
Couple of quick thoughts, first I agree; who would buy server with Windows and then load Linux on it. Linux is always an option on a server, or you can buy one sans OS. Lastly, how is that cloud thing doing in business??
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HARDWARE not OS
rayber1 25th May 2011
this is not about OS this revenues and profit only with SERVERS(HARDWARE)

IBM servers is surging in the high-end market.
Oracle?s Sun UNITS isn?t a doormat anymore and is moving boxes.
Cisco is limped into the ?other? category, but is showing strength in BLADE servers.

They can buy windows , linux and unix ....

OS is less compare to warranty or maintenance of Servers
0 Votes
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You must read the study linked to in the post.
Mister Spock 25th May 2011
@rayber1
Mr. Pharaoh cited a line from the survey in refernce to operating systems.
plain
0 Votes
+ -
You must read the study linked to in the post.
rayber1 25th May 2011
@mister spock
i talk in general (article) , the companies that buys servers dont care about OS , the company cares only production money ... nothing less . can be windows , linux ect .....

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