The global server market showed resilience in the fourth quarter and full-year 2008, despite fears that the economic backdrop would spark a slowdown.
According to research giant Gartner, fourth quarter server shipments clambered almost 11 per cent year-on-year, while revenues were up 3 per cent.
For the year as a whole, server shipments increased by 7.4 per cent with revenues growing 3.8 per cent.
IBM continued to boss the show in revenue terms after growing revenues by 0.8 per cent last year. Gartner attributed this mainly to a 10.2 per cent growth in System x and 9.1 per cent growth in System p. Revenues from System z and System i dropped 9.6 per cent.
Big Blue’s revenue market share dropped slightly to 32 per cent, while closest rival HP saw its share rise from 27 per cent 28.3 per cent on the back of 8.8 per cent growth.
Of the top five vendors, Dell hit the highest annual revenue growth at 13.2 per cent. Fujitsu/FCS was the only top player to see revenue decline on an annual comparison.
HP led the standings in server shipments after shifting 16.6 per cent more boxes than last year – more than any other top five player. Its Integrity brand was the star performer, booming 56.8 per cent.
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