Linux Server Revenue Experiences Growth

Servers running Linux generated $1.3 billion in fourth-quarter revenue, according to recently released figures from market researcher IDC. That number represented some 9 percent of the $14.4 billion in total worldwide server revenue toted up during the past three months of 2004. Overall, Linux server revenue was up 35.6 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2003, and unit shipments rose 29.1 percent year-over-year.

More significantly, the fourth quarter of 2004 marked the second sequential $1 billion-plus quarter for Linux servers. HP led the Linux-server market with a 26 percent revenue share, followed by IBM with 23.5 percent and Dell with 15.8 percent.

For its part, IBM issued a separate statement, noting that its Linux server revenue for the fourth quarter was up 49 percent over the year-earlier period, though it didn't provide numbers.