Global HPC server market revenue grows by 3.9% in Q3

Article By : International Data Corp.

Strong revenue growth in higher-end HPC server systems is partially offset by revenue declines in lower-priced systems.

Worldwide factory revenue for the high performance computing (HPC) technical server market has shown growth of 3.9% to ₹18,665.42 crore ($2.8 billion) in the third quarter of 2016, compared with ₹17,998.80 crore ($2.7 billion) in the prior-year third quarter, according to International Data Corporation. The revenue for the first three quarters of 2016 totaled ₹53,996.40 crore ($8.1 billion), up 3.4% from the ₹51,996.53 crore ($7.8 billion) total reported in the same period last year.

In 3Q16, strong revenue growth in higher-end HPC server systems was partially offset by revenue declines in lower-priced systems.

"In the third quarter of 2016, HPC was a bright spot in the overall worldwide server market, which IDC previously reported declined 7.0% year over year to ₹83,327.78 crore ($12.5 billion) in the quarter," said Earl Joseph, IDC program vice president for Technical Computing. "Higher-priced systems led the way with year-over-year growth exceeding 22%, while lower-priced system revenue declined."

Reflecting the tilt toward higher-priced systems, unit shipments decreased from 71,479 in the first three quarters of 2015 to 63,385 in the same period of 2016, while the average selling price (ASP) rose from ₹72.85 lakh ($109,280) to ₹84.94 lakh ($127,411).

"The workgroup segment, and especially the departmental segment, substantially ramped up purchases of HPC servers in the period 2012-2015, in tune with the global economic recovery. In the first three quarters of 2016, more of these buyers were in a position to wait a while before buying another system. IDC expects this dip to be temporary," added Kevin Monroe, IDC senior research analyst for Technical Computing.