IBM Ups Share in Server Market, Sun Falls

IBM, the leader in the worldwide server market in terms of revenue, increased sales by more than 10 percent last year, while Sun Microsystems Inc. saw a more than 15 percent decline, a market research firm said Wednesday.

IBM increased revenue to $14.8 billion from $13.4 billion in 2002, the latest figures from Gartner Inc. showed. Sun, on the other hand, dropped to $5.5 billion from $6.4 billion.

No. 2 Hewlett-Packard Co. increased revenue by 5.5 percent to $12.5 billion from $11.9 billion. Dell Inc., which was No. 4, increased revenue by 22.1 percent to nearly $4 billion from $3.3 billion, while No. 5 Fujitsu Siemens was up 12.1 percent to $2.6 billion from $2.3 billion.

In terms of shipments, HP led the pack with 1.6 million units, or 28.9 percent of the total number of shipments. Vendors following in order were Dell with 1.1 million units, or 19.9 percent; IBM with 878,390 units, or 15.8 percent; Sun Microsystems with 287,976, or 5.2 percent; and Fujitsu Siemens with 119,537 units, or 2.2 percent.

HP, Dell, IBM and Sun increased the number of shipments from 2002 by 15.7 percent, 29.7 percent, 33.2 percent and 5.2 percent, respectively. Fujitsu Siemens saw a 28.7 percent decline.