Category: OS

x86 servers saw their revenue market share grow from 45.9% in Q4 2006 to 49% in Q4 2007, according to IDC. Sales of Windows and Linux grew 12.8% and 8% respectively. While Unix performance remained strong, growing revenue by 3.1% annually, it is Windows that is now the clear market share leader with 35.7% or the total EMEA revenue. Both z/OS and i5/OS saw their revenue decrease by 9.1% and 3.9% respectively. Blades growth continued unabated with sales going up 55% annually and approaching the half-billion dollar mark. Pedestal servers are the single most important segment with 50.2% of the total revenue in Q4 2007, despite negative annual revenue growth.

Microsoft Windows servers showed positive growth as revenues grew 6.9% and unit shipments grew 9.8% YTY, according to IDC. Quarterly revenue of $5.7 bln for Microsoft Windows servers set an all-time high for a single quarter and represented the single largest revenue segment in the server market with 36.6% of overall quarterly factory revenue. Unix servers experienced 1.5% revenue growth YTY when compared with Q4 2006. Worldwide Unix revenues were $5.2 bln for the quarter, representing 33.3% of quarterly server spending and reflecting continued IT investment in this server market segment, with particular strength in the midrange enterprise segment of the Unix market which comprises 53.8% of all Unix spending. Linux server revenue reached $2.0 bln for the first time in any single quarter on 11.6% YTY growth. Linux servers now represent 12.7% of all server revenue, up more than 1 point over Q4 2006.