HP says its Linux-related revenue was more than $2.5 billion in 2003, a figure that it says places it in the top tier of companies vying for leadership in the rapidly growing market for the freely available operating system software.
Linux is an operating system that can be copied and modified freely, and is now moving upstream into more complex computing needs at corporations, said Nick Collins, director of marketing for Linux at Palo Alto, California-based HP.
"A lot of it has been around moving applications from, let us say, high-end Unix systems and proprietary implementations to Linux," Collins said.
Collins defined HP`s Linux-related revenue as sales of computer servers, storage equipment, software and services that operate in a Linux computing installation.
Linux adoption has gone mainstream in recent years as companies look to cut spending on information technology amid a three-year slump in corporate profits and a down economy.
Jean Bozman, research vice-president for the worldwide server group at market research firm IDC, said in a statement that Linux server revenue and unit shipments have been accelerating in recent quarters, with 50% revenue growth in the third quarter of 2003 from the year-earlier period.
The reason for the strong growth, in addition to its cheaper cost relative to proprietary Unix operating systems and Microsoft`s Windows operating system, is its expanded use in Web-centric applications, increased use in printing, and widening use in high-performance computing workloads, Bozman said.
Number one Web search provider Google and online retailer Amazon.com were both early Linux adopters and database software firm Oracle also aims to be a major player in Linux and is using Linux internally.
A spokesperson for rival IBM said that while IBM does not provide ongoing Linux-related revenue figures, it did say in 2000 that it would invest $1 billion in Linux in 2001. Because of that investment, the company made an exception and disclosed that it had $1 billion in Linux revenue in 2001, the spokesperson said.
IBM also is making a $50 million investment in network software maker Novell, which yesterday closed its acquisition of German Linux provider SuSE.
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