Gartner Says Worldwide Server Revenue Declined 0.8 Percent in the Second Quarter of 2016, While Shipments Increased 2 Percent
In the second quarter of 2016, worldwide server revenue declined 0.8 percent year over year, while shipments grew 2 percent from the second quarter of 2015, according to Gartner. There was some shuffling among the top vendors in the second quarter, as Dell moved into the top spot in shipments, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) remained the worldwide leader in server revenue.
Jeffrey Hewitt, research vice president at Gartner said, “The second quarter of 2016 produced some continued growth on a global level compared with the first quarter, although there were some varied results regionally. All regions showed a decline in shipments except Asia/Pacific and North America, which posted growth of 5.6 percent and 3 percent, respectively. In terms of revenue, all regions except for Asia/Pacific and Eastern Europe exhibited a decline. Asia/Pacific grew by 6.1 percent and Eastern Europe posted 1 percent growth. Variations of growth by data center segments and exchange rate issues are the main reasons for these results.”
Despite a decline of 6.4 percent, HPE continued to lead in the worldwide server market, based on revenue, with 23.7 percent market share (see Table 1). Dell grew 9.9 percent and maintained the second spot in the market with 19.1 percent market share. IBM secured the third position with 9.1 percent of the market but experienced the largest decline among the top five vendors.
Table 1 : Worldwide: Server Vendor Revenue Estimates, 2Q16 (U.S. Dollars)
| Company | 2Q16
Revenue |
2Q16 Market Share (%) | 2Q15
Revenue |
2Q15 Market Share (%) | 2Q16-2Q15 Growth (%) |
| HPE | 3,208,997,829 | 23.7 | 3,428,089,692 | 25.1 | -6.4 |
| Dell | 2,594,180,873 | 19.1 | 2,361,553,746 | 17.3 | 9.9 |
| IBM | 1,226,947,968 | 9.1 | 1,869,261,145 | 13.7 | -34.4 |
| Lenovo | 968,175,316 | 7.1 | 949,775,893 | 7.0 | 1.9 |
| Cisco | 858,924,000 | 6.3 | 866,700,000 | 6.3 | -0.9 |
| Others | 4,695,515,875 | 34.6 | 4,180,263,723 | 30.6 | 12.3 |
| Total | 13,552,741,861 | 100.0 | 13,655,644,198 | 100.0 | -0.8 |
Source: Gartner (September 2016)
Due to its success in the x86 market, Dell moved into the No. 1 position in server shipments in the second quarter of 2016, with 8.9 percent growth, garnering 19.2 percent market share (see Table 2). HPE dropped to the second spot with 17.2 percent shipment share, representing an 18.7 percent decline year over year.*
Table 2 : Worldwide: Server Vendor Shipment Estimates, 2Q16 (Units)
| Company | 2Q16
Shipments |
2Q16 Market Share (%) | 2Q15
Shipments |
2Q15 Market Share (%) | 2Q16-2Q15 Growth (%) |
| Dell | 529,135 | 19.2 | 485,745 | 18.0 | 8.9 |
| HPE | 474,803 | 17.2 | 583,790 | 21.6 | -18.7 |
| Lenovo | 235,267 | 8.5 | 222,206 | 8.2 | 5.9 |
| Huawei | 139,866 | 5.1 | 122,565 | 4.5 | 14.1 |
| Inspur | 120,417 | 4.4 | 82,032 | 3.0 | 46.8 |
| Others | 1,258,045 | 45.6 | 1,207,005 | 44.6 | 4.2 |
| Total | 2,757,532 | 100.0 | 2,703,344 | 100.0 | 2.0 |
Source: Gartner (September 2016)
Additional information is available to clients who have access to Gartner’s Servers Quarterly Statistics. This database provides worldwide market size and share data by vendor revenue and unit shipments. Segments include region, vendor, vendor brand, subbrand, CPU type, CPU group, max CPU, platform, price band, operating system and distribution channel.
Beginning in the second quarter of 2016, HPE’s server sales in China are reflected in H3C; however, Dell is ranked No. 1 in worldwide x86 shipments even if the shipments of HPE and H3C are combined.
