Dell topped server market in Q1 as sales show signs of recovery

'But this fact doesn't tell a complete story' says global analysts when reviewing the server market's latest double-digit growth

The global server market climbed 12 per cent to earn revenues of $20.9bn in the first quarter of 2021.

According to figures from IDC, sales of volume servers were up 15.4 per cent to $17.3bn for the quarter, while midrange server sales declined 2.7 per cent to $2.4bn (€1.9bn).

The analyst firm also claimed global shipments grew 8.3 per cent year on year to nearly 2.8 million units.

"The first quarter 2021 server market performance benefited from a comparison against the most difficult quarter of last year's pandemic stricken year, but this fact doesn't tell a complete story," said IDC infrastructure platforms and technologies senior research analyst, Paul Maguranis.

"The considerable increase of server investments during the quarter were also buoyed by global economic tailwinds along with increased investments targeting the modernisation of business applications, datacenter infrastructure, and IT operations."

The top companies

Dell Technologies ranked number one worldwide in IDC's figures, clocking in a revenue increase of 2.4 per cent to $3.5bn, capturing 17 per cent market share.

HPE/H3C closely followed with $3.3bn (€2.7bn), an increase of 15 per cent.

Inspur/Inspur Power Systems and Lenovo were tied for third with 7.2 per cent and 6.9 per cent respective share of total revenue.

Where in the world was the growth strongest?

IDC added that China took the lion's share of revenue, with sales jumping 29.1 per cent.

Asia/Pacific (excluding China and Japan) followed with an increase of 16.6 per cent, while sales in North America grew 10.6 per cent, however dropped in Latin America by 9.1 per cent.