Linux Server Market Continues to Grow
The global server market continues to grow with Linux servers playing a major role: for the fifth time in succession, Linux server business achieved double-figure growth in the second quarter of 2007.
Statistics published by US market researchers Gartner and IDC reveal the trend. All told, manufacturers increased turnover by 5 percent (Gartner) or 6 percent (IDC) in the second quarter of 2007. This is equivalent to a total of US$ 13 billion. According to IDC Linux servers account for US$ 1.8 billion of this figure, representing 19 percent growth in servers with the free operating system pre-installed in the second quarter. The market share rose from 12.1 in the same quarter last year to 13.6 percent this year. Microsoft is still the market leader with a share of 38.2 percent, US$ 5 billion turnover, and a similar growth rate of 18.7 percent. The loser would seem to be Unix with turnover down by 4 percent and a market share of 31.7 percent.
Researchers from both Gartner and IDC see IBM on top of hardware vendors with a turnover of some US$ 4 billion, closely foolowed by HP (US$ 3.7 billion) and Sun with US$ 1.7 billion. Big Blue was able to maintain its market share with its System x, z and System p servers. HP's big sellers are the ProLiant and Blade Servers, while Sun scores with its T1000 and T2000 systems, and dominates the Unix market with Solaris. Dell improved turnover by 20 percent but stays in fourth place.
According to market researchers, growth was driven by products for the X86 platform; at the same time, researchers identified increased demand for more storage. A strong underlying demand for increased capacity and new applications is driving volume growth in spite of potential inhibitors like virtualization and economic concerns." says Jeffrey Hewitt, Vice President for Market Research with Gartner. Competitor IDC sees new IT tasks and a strong wave of regular hardware updates as the driving force behing growth.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.
-
So Long, ArcoLinux
The ArcoLinux distribution is the latest Linux distribution to shut down.
-
What Open Source Pros Look for in a Job Role
Learn what professionals in technical and non-technical roles say is most important when seeking a new position.
-
Asahi Linux Runs into Issues with M4 Support
Due to Apple Silicon changes, the Asahi Linux project is at odds with adding support for the M4 chips.
-
Plasma 6.3.4 Now Available
Although not a major release, Plasma 6.3.4 does fix some bugs and offer a subtle change for the Plasma sidebar.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 First Release Candidate Now Available
Linux Torvalds has announced that the release candidate for the final release of the Linux 6.15 series is now available.
-
Akamai Will Host kernel.org
The organization dedicated to cloud-based solutions has agreed to host kernel.org to deliver long-term stability for the development team.