Blade servers, and those predominantly in the x86 segment dominated the Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) market, say international research firms Gartner and IDC.
The server market is seen as important as it gives an indication of the infrastructure companies are investing in. According to both firms, the dominance of the x86 technology shows an increasing hold by Microsoft and Linux systems at the expense of Unix systems.
Gartner says that EMEA server revenue surpassed $15.7 billion (R90 billion) in 2004, a 6.2% increase from 2003. Server shipments surpassed two million units, a 20.6% increase from 2003.
However, IDC says fourth quarter revenue growth softened to show an increase of just three percent compared to the same period in 2003 when measured in current dollars.
Overall growth for 2004 over 2003 was still positive at close to eight percent in current dollars, though in euros revenue growth remained slightly negative. System shipments increased by 15.3% from fourth quarter '03 to fourth quarter '04, to just below 605 000 units.
Adrian O`Connell, principal analyst with Gartner`s EMEA Enterprise Server group, says: "2004 was a strong year and ended with a 14% increase in shipments in the fourth quarter. It was particularly positive for vendors who were able to capitalise on the strong demand for low-end systems. Improving underlying demand continued to drive shipment growth, fuelled by the replacement cycle and beneficial exchange rates."
O`Connell says that in the fourth quarter, strongest growth was seen in the Middle East and Africa region where server shipments grew 26% compared to 2003. Shipments in Western Europe increased 14% led by Germany and France where shipments increased 18 and 19% respectively.
Gartner says Dell recorded the strongest growth in 2004 both in shipment and revenue terms. IBM maintained its lead in terms of revenue, although HP managed to narrow the market share gap.
Emerging country focus
Stefania Lorenz, program manager, IDC CEMA Systems, says: "IT vendors are increasingly focusing their resources on the emerging countries in EMEA. The EU accession countries (mainly central Europe) specifically are benefiting from this investment; translating it into strong 14.2% revenue growth in fourth quarter `04."
She says that despite six consecutive quarters of healthy positive growth, the server spending rebound in Western Europe ran out of steam during the traditionally strong fourth quarter of the calendar year, resulting in factory revenue growing by a mere 1.4% compared to the same quarter a year ago.
IDC says the fact that modular environments are becoming the favoured customer choice was underlined by growth in blades and rack-optimised servers.
The research firm says that while x86 pedestal/tower servers virtually stagnated, blade server shipment growth of 79.3% and rack-optimised server growth of 27.8% highlight this increasing transition in IT environments, as well as in the implementation of large IT projects.
Both research firms say that this year`s market growth will be slower, but will remain positive.
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