Line between PCs and workstations blurs

Internet and ebusiness demand have helped server and workstation sales grow by 11 per cent and 14 per cent respectively during the second quarter, according to market analyst Dataquest.

Internet and ebusiness demand have helped server and workstation sales grow by 11 per cent and 14 per cent respectively during the second quarter, according to market analyst Dataquest.

But despite the increase, server growth was well below the 21 per cent predicted by analysts.

Dataquest figures revealed that a total of 955,412 servers were sold worldwide in Q2 this year, with workstation sales in the same period reaching 440,463.

Pia Rieppo, principal analyst for workstations at Dataquest, said: "Differentiation of high-end PCs and entry-level workstations is becoming increasingly blurred. Many entry-level workstations being shipped this year are being sold for PC use, as opposed to traditional workstation uses, to technical and creative professionals."

Jeffrey Hewitt, principal analyst for servers at Dataquest, said: "The server industry's growth in Q2 was primarily fuelled by ebusiness, which created a strong demand for front-end web servers. These servers are on the lower end of the price scale."

In the service sector, Sun Microsystems and Dell enjoyed the strongest growth, with 70.5 per cent and 36.2 per cent respectively in terms of units shipped, compared with the same quarter last year. Compaq was the top server vendor with a 29.3 market share, followed by Dell with 14.1 per cent and IBM with 13.7 per cent.

In the workstation space, Dell surpassed Sun and Hewlett Packard (HP), shipping 76.7 per cent more units than a year ago. Dell also held the highest global market share, 22.7 per cent, followed by HP with 20.5 per cent and Sun with 19.3 per cent.

• IBM confirmed that it is considering repositioning its server line in a review codenamed Mach 1. Big Blue said in a statement: "We are considering a variety of things that will position IBM and our customers to take advantage of the next generation of ebusiness."