Tiburon, Calif- The workstation market's behavior for the second quarter is normal--not great, not bad, but normal. All things considered, normal is fine, recognizes Jon Peddie Research analysts.
Completing analysis of the workstation and professional graphics market for the second quarter, Alex Herrera, Jon Peddie Research senior analyst, finds that after the big economic bust of two years ago, followed by an atypically strong growth pattern last year, the market has calmed down in 2011.
Not since the first half of 2008 has the market shown a sustainable growth pattern or even typical cyclical behavior. The market at the end of 2008 and into 2009 saw the same economic collapse that virtually every global market experienced, technology-based or not. 2010 saw a very welcome rebound with gains that roughly compensated for 2009's losses, with a strong growth pace that was simply unsustainable long term. Finally, but as expected, the market settled down in 2011, taking on a more typical and cyclical pattern.
Q1 saw a 4.8% sequential decline, and that really indicated a flat market more than anything, as Q1 often sees a drop-off from end-of-year Q4 buying. Conversely, the second quarter normally sees a modest sequential bump--and a bump there was, as Q2 delivered 906,800 workstations shipped worldwide, representing 5.4% sequential growth.
HP further separates itself as the market leader, while Lenovo shows the most growth at 42.3% of units in the second quarter. HP is now the clear leader of the workstation market, further distancing itself from number two Dell, at 33.8%. The growth story from the second quarter came not from the leader but from number three Lenovo, which jumped from 7.9% to 9.9% share of worldwide units.
Tracking workstations, the closely related market for professional graphics hardware was essentially flat, as well. All told, the industry--for all intents and purposes, Nvidia and AMD--shipped one and a quarter million units (add-in cards and mobile GPUs), up a typical, cyclical 4.9% sequentially. Commanding 80.9% of total units, Nvidia continues to hold a dominant position in the market. But AMD has been making significant gains of late, taking control of 18.5% of units in the second quarter, a level more than doubled from its low of mid-2008.
JPR's Workstation Report - Professional Computing Markets and Technologies is a reference guide for hardware and software vendors and suppliers serving the workstation and professional graphics markets. Subscribers to the JPR Workstation Report receive two in-depth reports per year providing a comprehensive analysis of the vendors and technologies driving the workstation platform. Clients also receive four quarterly reports detailing and analyzing market results for each calendar quarter. For information about purchasing the JPR Workstation Report, visit Jon Peddie Research at http://www.jonpeddie.com.