APAC server revenue increases

Server revenue in APAC outside of Japan totaled $1.21 billion in the second quarter of 2003, an eight percent increase from the same period last year, according to Dataquest, a unit of Gartner.

"Despite war, SARS, and general uncertainty, it appears that some of the regional powerhouses have finally got back on with the job of enhancing infrastructure," said Matthew Boon, Vice President for hardware and systems research at Gartner. "These growth rates are an encouraging sign that the APAC server market is entering a growth phase."

The Indian server market experienced revenue growth of 33 percent in the second quarter of 2003 compared with the second quarter of 2002.

"The Indian market has seen significant growth in revenue, especially from the Intel-based servers in the first half of 2003," said Vinod Nair, industry analyst for hardware and system research at Gartner. "Constrained budgets and the tough economic situation had squeezed the server market last year, and the transition of preference to midrange servers and thereby higher price bands, also contributed to better revenue for vendors this year."

China continued to be the No. 1 country for server revenue in APAC with 31 percent market share, experiencing an 11 percent rise in revenue compared with the second quarter of 2002. The impact of SARS was experienced mainly in the services sector. Other sectors have remained fairly resilient to this. Continuous investment by the government in building the IT environment has helped to contain the overall impact on server revenue for China.

However, Hong Kong seemed to be the worst affected by SARS, recording a revenue decline of 29 percent. South Korea registered a marginal rise of 2 percent, showing little or no signs of recovery.