Oracle disappoints in Q3 server market
Sun Microsystems owner posts underwhelming numbers as Dell and HP enjoy fine quarter
HP and Dell were the big winners during a solid third quarter for the server market, which saw revenue and shipments grow year on year.
Research from Gartner finds that worldwide server sales during Q3 increased 15.3 per cent annually to almost $12.29bn (£7.9bn). Unit shipments rose 14.2 per cent to 2.19 million.
Revenue in the EMEA region spiked 7.4 per cent to $3.27bn, while shipments grew 10.4 per cent to 581,294. Eastern Europe was a key growth hot spot, with sales rising more than a third. Revenue in Western Europe was up 5.7 per cent on the corresponding period last year, with unit shipments up 8.8 per cent.
HP strengthened its position as EMEA's top vendor by revenue, stretching its lead over second-placed IBM by more than five points year on year. The two vendors held 42.1 and 25.8 per cent of the market in Q3, respectively.
Dell, in third, added 1.7 points to its market share after seeing sales rise 25.8 per cent. The Texan manufacturer grabbed a 11.7 per cent slice of the market in Q3. Fourth-placed Fujitsu held 6.3 per cent.
Oracle, which has slipped from fourth to fifth place over the past year, endured a tough quarter. The vendor's market share dropped more than two points annually to 6.2 per cent, sales dropped 20.7 per cent to $203.35m and unit shipments plummeted 35.3 per cent to 10,098.
Gartner research director Adrian O'Connell claimed Oracle will have to work hard to make its new-found hardware business a success.
"Following the acquisition of Sun's hardware business, the company now faces the challenge of preventing further declines in the hardware segment," he said.
O'Connell added that the EMEA server market continues to face a sticky economic wicket.
"The market's recovery continues, but growth rate levels remain lower than in 2008. While the recovery is encouraging, ongoing economic uncertainty in many European countries continues to inhibit higher levels of demand and spending."