Virtualisation boosts APAC server growth
The Asia-Pacific server market recorded its sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth in shipments and revenues during the first quarter of 2011, according to Gartner figures.
The research firm said that server shipments in the Asia-Pacific region between January and March 2011 grew 21 per cent year-on-year to reach 461,502 units. Revenue in the first quarter also hit US$2.31 million, an increase of 29 per cent over the first quarter of 2010.
The region was the second-fastest growing geographical market after Eastern Europe, which, according to a statement last week from Gartner, saw a 36 per cent year-on-year jump in revenues and 21.1 per cent rise in shipment.
Erica Gadjuli, principal research analyst at Gartner, attributed the region's server market growth in Q1 to server consolidation using virtualisation technology.
x86-based server sales, she noted, showed "excellent growth" with shipments up 21 per cent and revenue growing 31 per cent compared to the same period in 2010.
On the other hand, mainframe and RISC/Itanium Unix server demand was driven by IT investments from verticals such as financial services and the public sector, leading to a 137 per cent growth in shipments and 15.3 per cent growth in revenue during the same period.
Gartner added that continued investment during the first quarter of 2011 by mainframe customers in Singapore, China, Taiwan and Korea, coupled with demand for higher-end servers in the RISC (reduced instruction set computer) and x86 segments, contributed significantly to the overall market in the respective countries.
The research firm reported that overall server revenue in Singapore during the first three months of the year grew 63 per cent over the same period in 2010, while China saw a 31 per cent year-on-year increase. In Taiwan and Korea, server revenues grew by 31 per cent and 21 per cent respectively, it said.
Over in Hong Kong, total server shipments in Q1 rose 15 per cent while revenue grew 21 per cent. Gartner noted that spending on RISC and x86 servers boosted the market.
Australia saw a "modest" growth of 10 per cent in revenue while shipments fell 5 per cent, added Gartner.
Compared with other server form factors — such as rack mountable, rack optimised and tower/stand-alone — blade servers, which include both x86 and non-x86 systems, grew the fastest in the Asia-Pacific region, said Gadjuli. Blade shipments in the first quarter increased by 38 per cent over the same period in 2010, while revenues climbed 68 per cent.
Vendor-wise, Hewlett-Packard led the Asia-Pacific server market with 30 per cent share of first-quarter shipments, or 138,417 units. Dell accounted for 21.8 per cent of the market, while IBM had a share of 20.1 per cent. The rest of the top five players, by shipments, were Chinese players Lenovo and Huawei Technologies, which took 5.1 per cent and 3.7 per cent, respectively.
In terms of revenue, however, Big Blue took the lead with US$951,436, or a market share of 41 per cent. HP, at US$671,537, was number two with 29 per cent of the market while Dell clocked US$287,624 for a 12.4 per cent. Oracle took fourth spot with 6.3 per cent, recording US$146,291 in revenues. The only Chinese player in the top five by revenue was Dawning, which accounted for 1.5 per cent of the market at US$35,324.
Via ZDNet Asia