EMEA bottom of the class in global server market

North America and Middle East and Africa markets grew in Q3 but EMEA as a whole posted drop for ninth-consecutive quarter

The EMEA server market has continued its "downward spiral" in Q3, according to Gartner, which said that the region's server sales have slumped for the ninth quarter in a row.

In Q3 server revenue in the region hit $2.8bn (£1.7bn) – down 4.3 per cent year on year and signalling a 15-year low and a ninth consecutive quarter of negative growth.

Unit shipments reached 548,000 – down 7.2 per cent annually, marking an eighth consecutive quarterly decline.

While the Middle East and Africa portion of EMEA actually enjoyed 12.1 per cent annual growth, both Western and Eastern Europe let the region down, as their revenues shrank 4.8 per cent and 13 per cent respectively.

"The performance of server shipments and revenue in EMEA is in a downward spiral," said Adrian O'Connell, research director at Gartner.

"Weak demand continues to make EMEA one of the hardest regions for server vendors to do business in. The market is resetting itself to a new level with architectural shifts making life very challenging for vendors that have relied on high-end platforms in the past. The ongoing economic weakness plays its part here.

"The fourth quarter is also expected to be weak, making 2013 a year to forget for most server vendors."

Market leader HP and fourth-placed Fujitsu were the only vendors to see their EMEA server revenue grow in Q3, with the pair's sales up 1.1 per cent and 1.5 per cent year on year respectively. Second-placed IBM posted a 19.2 per cent annual decline in its EMEA server sales, with Oracle down 15.5 per cent annually.

Outside of EMEA, although the global server market remained "relatively weak", Canada managed to grow its server sales 6.5 per cent annually in Q3, while the US saw its revenue creep up 0.9 per cent over the same period.

Overall, the global server market grew 1.9 per cent annually in terms of shipments, while worldwide revenue slumped 2.1 per cent over the same period.