Sun's Unix servers keep on selling well

The Unix server market continues to grow as more and more companies turn to the platform for its unique reliability, availability and scalability attributes. Since day one, Sun has been committed to Unix and the IDC report demonstrates how Sun has widened its lead in total Unix server sales. In the second quarter of 1999, Sun captured 32 percent and 31 percent market share in factory revenue and shipments, respectively. Among the top four Unix server vendors, including HP, IBM and Compaq, Sun had the most explosive revenue increase, growing at a clip of 25 percent.

The high end of the Sun Enterprise line, led by the Enterprise 10000 Starfire server , continued to ship more units than the high end servers of any competitor. The Starfire server skyrocketed 104 percent in total server shipments making Sun the only one of the top five vendors to experience any type of growth. In total server market share, Sun's high-end line grabbed 10 percent and 27 percent of industry revenue and shipments, respectively. These numbers exemplify the fact that Sun is at the forefront of defining data center architecture for the Internet age. With the expertise of Sun Professional Services, Sun's Starfire servers have been implemented in some of the largest, most demanding service provider and e-commerce deployments to date.

In the Unix high-end, Sun took a commanding lead of the market, with 45 percent and 70 percent market share in revenue and shipments, respectively, as well as showing 12 percent growth year-over-year for revenue and 104 percent for shipments. Sun captured substantial market share from its competitors in this category, gaining 10 and 27 percentage points in revenue and shipments, respectively, from Q2CY98.

The mid-range server market (systems priced from $100,000 to $1,000,000) continues to be the hottest market in servers. E-commerce applications and Web site hosting offer an almost endless horizon for mid-range vendors. Supplanting HP, Sun grabbed the top spot in total mid-range shipments for Q2CY99. With a 29 percent market share, Sun easily beat out HP's five percent growth rate, as well as boasting 20 percent year-over-year growth.

Sun continues to lay claim to the number one position in mid-range UNIX server shipments with a 35 percent market share, on 29 percent growth.

In the entry-level UNIX server market, Sun again led the pack in revenue and shipments, with 34 percent and 31 percent market share, respectively. Sun has more than double the market share of its closest competitor in revenues. In the overall market, Sun's entry-level servers continued to gain ground, growing 26 percent in revenue and 36 percent in shipments.

Entry-level servers (systems priced under $100,000) no longer serve as just simple file and print machines. With the growing number of small and mid-size companies moving to an Internet-based IT infrastructure, Sun was one of the first vendors to realize this and showcase data center attributes -- availability, scalability and management features -- in the workgroup space. IDC's data clearly demonstrates that Sun is addressing customer demand -- a fact underscored by the growing gap in market share between Sun and its competitors.