LONDON, June 21, 2002 - The Western European server market declined 22.5% in the first quarter of 2002 as budget pressures persisted and fears of a lack of economic growth continued to overshadow purchasing decisions in some countries.
According to IDC, Western European server factory revenue declined from $4 billion in 1Q01 to $3.1 billion in 1Q02. Unit shipments also contracted, though at a lower rate of 6.5%, to 276,000 units.
"Despite the revenue decline, results for the previous quarter and this quarter show some positive indications," said Thomas Meyer, IDC's European Enterprise Server Group Manager. "Looking at the Top 4 countries, the UK, which is always the first to lead the European countries out of recession, delivered positive sequential growth. Another factor was blade server purchases, which were significant in Europe, showing the willingness of players and users in the region to look at and invest in new technologies." IDC rates the top five vendors in the worldwide market according to revenue share as follows for 1Q02:
1. IBM - 29.2%
2. Compaq - 18.9%
3. HP - 15.1%
4. Sun Microsystems - 15.0%
5. Fujitsu Siemens - 9.3%
Unlike some other regions which experienced comparative UNIX decline, the European UNIX market remained on a par with the rest of the market and was helped by a strong performance in the UK. Overall, European UNIX revenue declined by 21.9% to $1.4 billion. Sun Microsystems led the market with a 32.3% market share, followed by HP with 26.1%. IBM and Compaq rounded out the top 4 vendors with 18% and 10% market share, respectively. "As in the previous quarter, we found a continued shift of UNIX to higher value systems. Overall, the UNIX market showed some considerable differences between the countries, most prominently exemplified by the results of the UK vs Germany," said Nancy Taylor, Senior Research Analyst for IDC's European Enterprise Server Group.
Martin Hingley, Vice President of IDC's European Systems Group commented on the period: "This was a time of disruption for server vendors as the new HP was about to be launched, IBM issued a profit warning for the first time in 14 years, and Sun's management was about to undergo dramatic changes. IDC is not surprised by the decline in business as 1Q01 was a period of significant success. Things will even themselves out later in the year when comparisons on a year-on-year basis start to be with the difficult quarters in 2001."
IDC's Western European Quarterly Server Tracker is a quantitative tool for analyzing the server market on a quarterly basis. The Tracker includes quarterly shipments (both ISS and upgrades) and revenues (both customer and factory), segmented by vendor, family, model, region, operating system, price band, CPU type, and architecture.
For more information on IDC's European Quarterly Server Tracker please contact Expertise Center Manager Thomas Meyer, on + 44 (0) 20 8987 7203 or email tmeyer@idc.com
About IDC
IDC is the foremost global market intelligence and advisory firm helping clients gain insight into technology and ebusiness trends to develop sound business strategies. Using a combination of rigorous primary research, in-depth analysis, and client interaction, IDC forecasts worldwide markets and trends to deliver dependable service and client advice. More than 700 analysts in 43 countries provide global research with local content. IDC's customers comprise the world's leading IT suppliers, IT organizations, ebusiness companies, and the financial community. Additional information can be found at www.idc.com.
IDC is a division of IDG, the world's leading IT media, research and exposition company.
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For more information, contact:
Thomas Meyer
+44 (0) 20 8987 7203
tmeyer@idc.com
Terry Cummings
+44 (0) 20 8987 7231
tcummings@idc.com