Global server shipments up but revenue down

WITH companies and consumers enthusiastically adopting cloud computing, more data centres are being built around the world. This, in turn, has ensured that demand for servers remain modestly strong, even as sales of computers fall sharply. However, with servers becoming increasingly commoditised, revenue growth has not kept pace with unit shipment growth.

This is borne out by the latest data from research agency Gartner. According to the agency, in the fourth quarter of last year, worldwide server shipment grew by a modest 3.2 per cent year-on-year. However, growth did not automatically translate into revenue growth for most vendors.

Global server revenue declined by 6.6 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2012. In all of 2013, worldwide server shipments grew 2.1 per cent, and server revenue declined 4.5 per cent.