DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Global computer server sales revenue dropped 30% to $9.8 billion
in the second quarter, the fourth-straight quarter of the declines
and the biggest since research firm IDC began tracking the server
market.
But it said an aging installed server base could help lead to
more predictable demand as the market stabilizes the rest of the
year.
The second quarter's 30% shipment decline was also worse than
the first quarter's 27% drop. The first quarter's 24.5% revenue
decline was the biggest seen by IDC until the latest period's
slump. The second-quarter sales total was also the second in a row
below $10 billion - they are the first two periods since 1996 to
breach that figure.
"Fewer servers have been shipped over the past four quarters
than at any time since 2005 and it is clear that the worldwide
server installed base is aging rapidly," said Matt Eastwood of
IDC.
The recession is mostly to blame for the sales woes as
businesses continue to throttle back on information-technology
spending. Unlike the last recession, however, server makers aren't
drastically reducing prices.
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) again had the
highest market share by factory revenue at 34.5%, up 1.8 percentage
points. Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) was next with 28.5%, while Dell
Inc. (DELL) and Sun Microsystems Inc. (JAVA) were far behind at 12%
and 10%, respectively. Of the four, Sun saw the biggest revenue
drop at 37%.
-By Tess Stynes, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2481;
tess.stynes@dowjones.com