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Server Market Grows; Linux Revenue Tops $1 Billion

The worldwide market for computer servers has posted its sixth consecutive quarter of growth, as revenues from Linux servers topped $1 billion in the third quarter and IBM and Hewlett-Packard Co. captured the No. 1 spots for revenue and unit shipments, respectively, a market research firm said Wednesday.

Factory revenue rose in the September quarter 5.5 percent, compared with the same period a year ago, to $11.5 billion, International Data Corp. said. Unit shipments increased by 18.7 percent.

IDC's figures overall revenue figures were similar to rival Gartner Inc., which also released server market figures Wednesday. Gartner pegged worldwide revenues as increasing 6 percent in the third quarter to $11.8 billion.

Low-cost servers running x86 processors drove the market both in revenue and shipments, as companies continued to update and expand their information technology infrastructures, IDC said. Gartner also attributed the increasing use of Linux servers as a factor.

"The server market is still being primarily driven by the x86 segment," Gartner analyst Mike McLaughlin said in a statement. "That, along with the acceptance of Linux in additional application areas in the enterprise space will continue to drive demand."

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