Worldwide factory revenue for the high performance computing (HPC) technical server market declined -7,2% to $10,3-billion for the full year 2013, down from a record $11,1-billion in 2012, according to the newly released International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide High-Performance Technical Server QView.
IDC had predicted the decline from the prior year, when several extremely large supercomputer sales propelled the high-end supercomputers segment of the market to new heights.
IDC expects the worldwide HPC server market to enjoy a healthy compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7,3% over the 2013-2017 forecast period with revenues to exceed $14-billion in 2017.
The supercomputers segment, for HPC systems that sell for $500 000 and up, declined -29,4% year over year to $4-billion, accounting for 38,8% of total HPC server revenue in 2013. A major component of the 2013 revenue came from very large systems sold by IBM, HP, and Cray. IDC expects this segment to resume growth in future years.
The sub-$500 000 segments experienced a second successive year of robust growth, continuing their rebound from the global economic recession.
Further findings include:
* The divisional segment ($250 000 to $499 000 price band) grew 11,4% year over year to reach $1,4-billion, or 13,2% of the total HPC server revenue for 2013.
* The departmental segment ($100 000 to $250 000 price band) expanded by 12,9% to $3,4-billion, or 32,7% of total 2013 HPC server revenue.
* The workgroup segment, for HPC systems sold for less than $100 000, showed the strongest growth expanding 23,9% over 2012 to $1,6-billion, and representing 15,4% of all 2013 HPC server revenue.
“HPC servers have been closely linked not only to scientific advances but also to industrial innovation and economic competitiveness. For this reason, nations and regions across the world, as well as businesses and universities of all sizes, are increasing their investments in high performance computing,” says Earl Joseph, programme vice-president for technical computing at IDC.
Unit shipments in 2013 increased by 19% year over year, due to the continued rebound in the sub-$500 000 segments where the majority of all HPC server units are sold.
HP led the market in 2013 with a 32,3% share of overall HPC server revenue, followed by IBM with 27,7%.
Cray had an exceptionally strong 2013, boosting revenue 23,4% over 2012.
Dawning’s strong second-half performance led to 73,8% revenue growth over 2012.
The combined “other” category exceeded $1-billion for the first time and was heavily driven by the acceptance of the Tianhe-2 system built by China’s National University of Defence Technology (NUDT).
