IDC Reports 25.2 Percent Growth in Shipments of
Server Operating Environments in 1998
Linux Drives Growth Significantly for Server Operating
Environments
FRAMINGHAM, Mass., January 18, 1999 -- Strong growth in shipments of server operating systems
from 1997 to 1998 was fueled by increased shipments of Linux, Microsoft NT Server, Novell Netware, and
Unix, according to International Data Corporation (IDC). The worldwide market for server operating
systems, which IDC defines as server operating environments (SOEs), grew by 25.2 percent in 1998,
compared to 15.3 percent growth for 1997.
IDC's Server Operating Environments, 1998 in Review bulletin reports preliminary data for 1998 shipments
on a worldwide basis. An annual report, with final IDC data will be published in spring, 1999.
Linux shipments for such server tasks as Web-serving grew rapidly, although the revenues from those
shipments were just $33 million worldwide. If Linux SOE sales were not included, shipments of all other
SOEs would have grown at a rate of just 11.3%.
"Microsoft NT Server and Linux were the fastest growing SOEs, in terms of units shipped," said Jean
Bozman, research manager of IDC's Server Operating Environments service, who is based in Mountain
View, California. "However, Unix continued to be the revenue leader, followed by NT Server and Novell
NetWare."
1998 Highlights
Microsoft's Windows NT Server grew at 27.2 percent, to 1.56 million units.
Combined Unix SOE shipments grew at only 4.1 percent, somewhat slower than expected in 1998.
Within the Unix category, HP-UX, SCO UnixWare, and Sun Solaris had strong growth, while the
"other" category declined sharply.
Novell Netware grew 13.6 percent to more than 1.0 million units.
IBM's OS/2 server operating environment declined 40.5 percent. IBM is repositioning this platform
for thin-client computing.
Linux license shipments grew at a dramatic rate of 212.5 percent, accounting for more than 17 percent
of all SOE units shipped.
Here are several trends in Server Operating Environments to look for in 1999:
IDC expects that there will be a period of last-minute Y2K preparations affecting sales of new SOEs.
During this time, IT managers will devote more attention to Y2K repairs than to rollouts of new SOE
products within their enterprise organizations.
Pricing for all major SOE products will continue to be affected by volume discounts.
Unix vendors are expected to "package" their SOE products with middleware, creating a series of
"modular" products aimed at specific market segments. Some Unix vendors may also return to the
practice of "bundling" their SOE products with sales of RISC-based server systems.
Server consolidation will likely promote sales of Unix SOEs for larger servers, and may reduce sales
of high-volume Unix SOE products in some market segments.
Unix vendors are expected to focus more on Internet standards than on the Open Group's Unix 95/98
standards, as they seek to differentiate their server products from NT Server.
NT is expected to have improved support for RAS and interoperability with Unix and NetWare
SOEs, while NetWare 5 is expected to gain in the Web-serving space
Microsoft and Sun will likely continue to set the pace for innovations in Internet- related operating
system technology.
The Server Operating Environments, 1998 in Review bulletin (IDC # B17876) can be purchased by
contacting Cheryl Toffel at 800-343-4952 ext. 4389. For additional information about IDC's Server
Operating Environment programs, contact Dawn Daggett at 508-935-4108 or at ddaggett@idc.com.
idc.com
|
