Close to 10 Percent Drop Seen in HPC Server Market During Q1

The high performance computing (HPC) technical server market dropped 9.6 percent during Q1.

It totaled $2.3 billion in the recent quarter, compared to $2.5 billion during the same quarter in 2013, International Data Corporation (IDC (News - Alert)) said. IDC additionally predicts the overall HPC technical server market to increase 7.4 percent a year, with revenues reaching $14.7 billion by 2018.

"HPC technical server revenues are expected to grow at a healthy rate because of the crucial role they play in economic competitiveness as well as scientific progress," Earl Joseph, program vice president for Technical Computing at IDC, said in a statement. "As the global race toward exascale computing fuels the high end of the market, more small and medium-sized businesses and research organizations are exploiting HPC servers for advanced simulations and high performance data analysis."

The report is called “Worldwide High-Performance Technical Server QView” – and it noted that unit shipments were “relatively steady” during Q1, with a 0.4 percent increase, year vs. year.

In addition, the report showed that revenues in the high-end supercomputers sector, which is best defined as HPC systems which sell for at least $500,000, saw a drop to $580 million, which translates to a 32.7 percent drop, when comparing year vs. year. Looking ahead, supercomputers will undergo “modest growth” through 2014, IDC said. They are predicted to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.2 percent through 2018, IDC adds.

The report also found there was a “recovery” in 2013, and the lower half of the HPC market saw improvement in the Divisional, Departmental, and Workgroup segments. The Divisional segment (HPC systems which sell between $250,000 and $499,000) edged down 2.6 percent year vs. year. Revenues for Departmental systems, which sell between $100,000 and $249,000, edged up by 0.6 percent. On the other hand, Workgroup revenue, for systems which sell under $100,000, increased 11.4 percent over the same quarter in 2013.

The report also follows select vendors, with HP listed as the leading global market vendor with 35 percent of HPC server market share; IBM (News - Alert) was in second place with 23.1 percent market share; and Dell was in third place with 17.2 percent. The report said, too, NEC, Sugon and Dell each saw “strong year-over-year revenue gains” during Q1. The report notes NEC (News - Alert)'s growth was helped by performance in the Supercomputers segment, and Sugon and Dell saw growth in the Departmental, Divisional and Workgroup segments.