Server sales fall

BEANCOUNTERS AT IDC reported that server sales fell in the second quarter.

The global market for computer servers crashed in the quarter ended 30 June, with sales falling 30 per cent to their lowest level in 13 years.

This makes the fourth consecutive quarter of server revenue decline and the lowest quarterly server revenue since IDC began tracking the server market.

Overall sales of servers around the world fell to $9.8 billion in Q2 2009, compared with $14 billion in the same period last year.

Some outfits still have reasons to celebrate, though. IBM increased its share of the market to 34.5 per cent, up from 32.7 per cent a year ago, even as its server sales fell 26 per cent to $3.4 billion. HP came in second with 28.5 per cent of the market, roughly the same as a year ago, as its revenue from servers fell 30 per cent to $2.8 billion.

After shuffling their tarot deck, IDC's shamans said that they're seeing some signs of recovery, and predicted that overall sales will improve in the next quarter.

Customers need to start replacing older computer equipment with new models built around a new generation of processors that Intel and rival AMD introduced in recent months, IDC reckoned.

IDC's top beancounter Jim Harrington said many buyers decided to hold off on purchases earlier this year because they knew that computer makers would be introducing new models over the summer. µ