Global server vendor revenues fall 5% in Q1 2013: Gartner

NEW DELHI: Global server shipments declined maiginally to 2,329,009 units in the January-March quarter of 2013, while revenues fell by 5 per cent to USD 11.83 million during the period, research firm Gartner said on Wednesday.

Worldwide server shipments totalled 2,346,083 units in the same period of 2012, whereas, its revenues stood at USD 12.44 million during the same period, it added. "The first quarter of 2013 was certainly not a strong period for the server market on a global level," Gartner Research Vice President Jeffrey Hewitt said.

The only regions to post increases were Asia-Pacific and the US, with Asia-Pacific showing the strongest growth with shipment and revenue increases of 7 per cent and 1.7 per cent, respectively, he added.

"While these two regions grew in both shipments and revenue, it was not enough to offset the declines of the other geographies -- all of which declined in server shipments and revenue for the quarter," he said.

Of the top 5 server vendors, only Dell posted a growth (14.4 per cent) in revenues, while the market leader IBM reported decline of 13.6 per cent, HP (14.4 per cent), Fujitsu (6.9 per cent) and Oracle (27.2 per cent).

"The reality for server vendors is that spending levels are very low and there is severe weakness in the high-end segment," Gartner Research Director Adrian O'Connell said.

There are still areas of opportunity, but vendors need to be agile and focused to address them. The outlook for 2013 remains challenging, he added.