IBM Winning the Server War

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IDC Research last week released its second-quarter server numbers and IBM (NYSE: IBM) was the big winner. Let's review:

Vendor	2Q 08 Revenue	Market Share	2Q 07 Revenue	Market Share	Revenue Growth
IBM	$4,633	33.2%	$4,071	31.1%	13.8%
Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ)	$3,823	27.4%	$3,709	28.3%	3.1%
Dell (Nasdaq: DELL)	$1,740	12.5%	$1,526	11.6%	14.1%
Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: JAVA)	$1,562	11.2%	$1,683	12.8%	(7.2%)

Source: IDC Research.

Notice how Big Blue scored the biggest gain in market share and came within spitting distance of Motley Fool Inside Value pick Dell in terms of overall revenue growth.

Sun Microsystems was the biggest loser, obviously. Hewlett-Packard, too. There's no glory in losing market share. But I also can't see how Dell spins these numbers positively. How can the company that cut prices to boost sales and gain market share gain less than IBM did?

Here's how: Windows servers, while still tops overall with more than 36% of the market, aren't as in demand as they used to be. Revenue from sales of network engines running Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) server operating systems grew just 1.7% in Q2. By contrast, those running Linux from Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) and its peers grew 10%.

That favors IBM, a heavy user of Linux. But Big Blue's advantages also run deeper. Here's Matt Eastwood, group vice president of Enterprise Platforms at IDC, speaking in a statement:

The server market has experienced acceleration in revenue growth over the past 4 quarters. Customers around the globe continue to deploy a wide range of technologies to meet their computing needs and as a result IDC saw strong growth in blades, Unix systems, and IBM System z demand across the marketplace. Diversity in market demand demonstrates customers do not believe a single standardized infrastructure is capable of meeting all their computing needs. [Emphasis added.]

A mixture of needs. Doesn't that sound like something best addressed by a company whose specialty is catering to big business problems with technology-driven services? A company like, say, IBM?

You've seen the numbers. You know the answer.

Get your clicks with related Foolishness:

• Big Blue has Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) on its mind.
• IBM needs servers to sell its green services.
• And the stock is cheaper than you think.