Infrastructure shipments hit a record value in 2017

Global infrastructure shipments in 2017 reached a record value of $142 billion, according to the research firm Canalys.

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The figure is up 7 percent from a year prior, thanks primarily to server shipments. The value of server shipments in 2017 totaled $66 billion, up more than 12 percent year over year. Canalys said the strength in the server market was propelled by:

• Rising DRAM component costs
• Increasing demand for higher server specifications
• Hyperscale cloud service providers that continue to grow data centers
• The launch of next-generation Intel and AMD processors, fueling an enterprise refresh cycle

Meanwhile, networking shipments came to $50 billion, up more than 4 percent. Storage shipments grew 1.6 percent to reach $26 billion, as spending on all-flash and software-defined products offset a decline in traditional HDD storage arrays.

Cisco was the top vendor, taking 20 percent of the overall infrastructure market primarily because of its dominance in networking. Dell EMC, in its first full year since the companies merged, took 15 percent of the infrastructure market, while HPE took 14 percent.

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