European server sales levelling out

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 11 Dec 2009 at 10:37

European server sales look to be bouncing back, according to figures from IDC.

IDC's study revealed that the EMEA region recorded its first period of sequential growth since 2008, with revenues rising 1.9% and unit sales up 8.4% in the third quarter.

However, it's likely server manufacturers will be keeping the champagne on ice. Sales across the EMEA region were still down 25.7% from last year, compared with the 17.3% recorded by the rest of the world. That estimates the market as worth $2.97 billion.

"Overall, the EMEA server market environment remains challenging despite better than expected performance in the larger countries such as the UK, Germany, Spain, and to a lesser extent Russia," says Nathaniel Martinez, director of European systems and infrastructure solutions at IDC.

Platform migrations, consolidation projects, and data center rejuvenation investments are bringing some activity to the market place

"Platform migrations, consolidation projects, and data center rejuvenation investments are bringing some activity to the market place," he adds.

Itanium-based servers were among the big winners, according to the figures. Sales were up 19.7% to $300 million, with Fujitsu also celebrating. Its BS2000 mainframes recorded a sequential sales rise of 15.8% to a tidy $70 million.

Sales of Windows boxes were down 22.7% compared to the same period last year, racking up $1.3 billion in sales. Unix servers were down 36.3% to $770.3 million. Linux still has a smile on its face, though. Sales dropped by a relatively cheerful 18%, landing on $502.6 million notes.

HP kept its EMEA sales crown, pocketing $1.2 billion during the quarter. That may have been down 24% on last year, but it was still healthy enough to give the company a 40.3% share of the market.

IBM trails with $905 million in sales, while Dell trundles into a distant third position with $290.3 million worth of sales.