Dell, HPE, Huawei look for server deals as 5G investment grows

Dell EMC, HPE, Huawei and Inspur are actively looking for more server deals with telecom operators as they step up 5G investment.
Server revenue 2018Nearly 211 mobile operators are making investment in 5G network roll outs in 87 countries – escalating demand for server.

Investment in 5G network is progressing in the US, some of nations in Europe and Asia. 5G Capex will not take off in India and China this year.

The global server market is forecast to grow at 3.9 percent in 2019, according to a research report from TrendForce.

Enterprise servers form the largest shipment group. The share of shipments toward internet datacenters will be growing from 35 percent in 2018 to 40 percent in 2019.

“As 5G begins to transform businesses, telecommunications companies and internet providers will increase in their demand for servers,” TrendForce senior analyst Mark Liu said.

TrendForce also forecast that Dell EMC, HPE and Inspur will be picking up the top three spots, with market shares of 15.8 percent, 13.7 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively, in the year 2019.

Revenue of server companies increased 12.6 percent to $23.6 billion during the fourth quarter of 2018. Worldwide server shipments increased 5 percent to under 3 million units, the latest IDC report shows.

“Reduced demand from hyperscale companies created downward pressure on worldwide server market growth rates during the quarter,” said Sebastian Lagana, research manager, Infrastructure Platforms and Technologies at IDC.

Dell EMC reported server revenue of $4.426 billion in Q4 2018 as compared with $4.199 billion for HPE, $1.951 billion for IBM, $1.548 billion for Inspur and $1.458 billion for Lenovo, according to IDC.

Dell EMC leads the global server market with 18.7 percent share followed by HP with 17.8 percent, IBM with 8.3 percent, Inspur with 6.6 percent and Lenovo with 6.8 percent in terms of server revenue share.

Data Center Systems revenue will drop 2.8 percent to $204 billion in 2019 and increase 1.7 percent to $207 billion in 2020 — after reporting 15.5 percent growth in 2018 to $210 billion, according to Gartner report.

Worldwide IT spending is projected to total $3.79 trillion in 2019, an increase of 1.1 percent from 2018, according to Gartner.

The data center systems segment will experience the largest decline in 2019 due to expected lower average selling prices (ASPs) in the server market driven by adjustments in the pattern of expected component costs.

Baburajan K