FRAMINGHAM, Mass.,
Aug. 17 -- In 2Q00, total branded workstation shipments (Unix plus Windows
NT) were 409,123 units, down 4% from the previous quarter. The branded
Windows NT workstation market fell 7%, while the Unix workstation market
was up about 3%. Since most vendors shipping NT- based systems are entering
the third quarter with substantial backlogs, barring huge memory shortages,
IDC believes growth should be good during the second half of the year.
Branded Windows NT Workstation Market
"The second quarter was difficult for most personal workstation
vendors, who struggled with RDRAM shortages while trying to meet customer
demand. Despite the supply constraints, the percentage of systems shipping
with RDRAM increased from 38% in the first quarter to 75% in the second
quarter," said Kara Yokley, analyst in IDC's Workstations
research group.
For the first quarter in over a year, shipments in the personal workstation
market declined. Many vendors faced memory supply constraints. With
the memory market expected to have further shortages through the end
of the year, workstation vendors could continue to be affected.
Dell, which was the sole vendor with an RDRAM-only strategy in Q200,
was mostly unaffected by memory shortages. It captured the number-one
position in shipments of branded Windows NT workstations with 93,000
units worldwide and 34% market share. Dell's shipments of workstations
grew 8% from the previous quarter. Dell also was number one in the United
States with a 43% market share.
Compaq was number two in 2Q00 with 20% share in the branded personal
workstation market. It remains the leader in economic and financial
accounts where its midrange systems have had great success.
Hewlett-Packard had a difficult second quarter and slipped to third
place. Because of Intel's recall of the 820/SDRAM chipset, HP's Kayak
line suffered considerable setbacks. Despite Kayak's difficulties, HP's
NT Visualize workstations, which do not utilize the 820 chipset, had
significant growth from first quarter. HP captured 17% of the worldwide
personal workstation market in 2Q00.
IBM had 14% market share in the Windows NT workstation market and grew
29% from the previous quarter. IBM continues to be popular in CAD and
EDA accounts.
Unix Workstation Market
"In recent quarters, many Unix vendors have adopted a maintain-the-base
strategy, which includes price reductions and more attention to graphics
and services. This is paying off with loyal customers, particularly
those in CAE and other compute-intensive segments," Yokley said.
Shipments of Unix workstations grew 3% from the first quarter. The combined
shipments of the top three vendors accounted for over 88% of the Unix
workstation market. Sun, which grew 7% from the first quarter and shipped
over 84,000 systems, remained number one in the traditional workstation
space. With sales of its popular Ultra 5 and Ultra 10 growing, Sun captured
60% of the Unix-based workstation market. IBM and HP were in a virtual
tie for second place in the Unix workstation market. Each captured approximately
14% of the market.
About IDC
IDC delivers dependable, high-impact insights and advice on the
future of ebusiness, the Internet, and technology to help organizations
make sound business decisions. IDC forecasts worldwide markets and trends
and analyzes business strategies, technologies, and vendors, using a
combination of rigorous primary research and in-depth competitive analysis.
IDC provides global research with local content through more than 600
analysts in 43 countries worldwide. IDC's customers comprise the world's
leading IT suppliers, IT organizations, ebusiness companies, and the
financial community. Additional information can be found at http://www.idc.com.
