Slowest Server Growth Since Q1 2006
IDC server figures are in for the third quarter.
Server sales grew ever so slightly. It was “the slowest growth rate since the first quarter of 2006″.
While the volume server space grew, the midrange fell. Sales for midrange servers experienced their “second consecutive quarterly decrease”.
One of the things that is going on here is that quad-core is cannibalizing four-way and above systems. A quad-core is a cheap four way.
Why does one need four processors when one can have four cores, or eight cores if you have two processors? Granted that there’s still a need for four-way and above servers, it’s also a legitimate question to ask.
For volume servers, it was “the second highest growth rate for this important segment over the past eight quarters”.
Other noteworthy points:
- x86 server revenue was “the second highest quarterly total ever reported”
- Server blades, which account for only about 10% of servers
- Are “the fastest growing segment”
- HP alone grew blade revenue 79.6%
- Blade sales accelerated for the fourth consecutive quarter
- Linux underwent “a fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth”
- UNIX did well in what is “traditionally a slower quarter for Unix servers than the end-of-year fourth quarter”
- High-end servers saw “the largest decline in year-over-year spending growth in more than 5 years”