INDICATORS - Server sales

This week, market research firm Context brings you figures for corporate server sales in the UK, US, Germany, the Netherlands and France.

 US
 % MARKET SHARE                          TOTAL
 Compaq                                   69.2
 Hewlett Packard                          16.6
 IBM                                      13.4
 Apple                                     0.6
 Digital                                   0.1
 Total servers                             100

Compaq, Hewlett Packard and IBM combined took up to 99.2 per cent of corporate server sales over the past six months.

Compaq's strongest month was November, peaking at 76.2 per cent.

IBM declined from more than 20 per cent in September to less than seven per cent in February.

Hewlett Packard started third, with slightly more than 15 per cent and rounded up February with more than 22 per cent.

 UK
 % MARKET SHARE                          TOTAL
 Compaq                                   76.2
 Other                                     8.1
 IBM                                       5.7
 Digital                                   5.5
 Hewlett Packard                             2
 Siemens Nixdorf                           1.2
 Dell                                      0.8
 Apricot                                   0.3
 AST                                       0.2

Compaq's share almost reached 80 per cent in January, but fell by approximately 10 points to 70.9 per cent in February.

Nevertheless, when adding Digital's sales, the combined shares fluctuated between 79 per cent and 87 per cent.

IBM was second, with up to 7.2 per cent.

 GERMANY
 % MARKET SHARE                          TOTAL
 Compaq                                   76.2
 IBM                                      10.7
 Other                                     7.3
 Hewlett Packard                           5.3
 Siemens Nixdorf                           0.5
 Total servers                             100

Compaq dominated the German corporate channel with, on average, more than three quarters of the segment's sales.

Its closest follower, IBM, managed to reach 10 per cent, while Hewlett Packard was above five per cent.

IBM's September share of 15.8 per cent dropped to below nine per cent twice, but February's result would suggest an improvement.

At the same time, Hewlett Packard rose to approximately eight per cent from 2.5 per cent.

 NETHERLANDS
 % MARKET SHARE                          TOTAL
 Compaq                                   59.6
 Hewlett Packard                          20.9
 IBM                                      17.3
 Tulip                                     1.3
 Digital                                     1
 Total servers                             100

Compaq ended where it began, with 65 per cent of the channel, reaching nearly 70 per cent in December. Its share, overall, was slightly below 60 per cent.

Hewlett Packard was number two in the Netherlands, with nearly 21 per cent of unit sales over the past six months, thanks to a peak of 29.7 per cent in November.

IBM's sales were irregular, with a low market share of approximately eight per cent and a high of almost 36 per cent.

 FRANCE
 % MARKET SHARE                          TOTAL
 Compaq                                   45.9
 IBM                                      27.3
 Hewlett Packard                          20.6
 ZDS                                       2.9
 Digital                                   1.9
 Siemens Nixdorf                           0.8
 Other                                     0.6
 Total servers                             100

Three vendors accounted for almost 95 per cent of the sales - Compaq led with 45.9 per cent, IBM took 27.3 per cent and Hewlett Packard had 20.6 per cent.

Compaq's share grew from 46.6 per cent in September to more than 52 per cent in February.

After an excellent October 97, when it reached 35 per cent, IBM's sales fluctuated - between 20 and 30 per cent of the share.

Hewlett Packard sales in February were below its usual 20 per cent share.

The local champion, ZDS, has fallen below the five per cent share.