Gartner Dataquest Says Worldwide Database Software Market Grew 10 Percent
in 2000
Oracle Extends No. 1 Position in Overall Market; Microsoft Moves into Top
Spot in NT RDBMS Software Segment; IBM Moves into No. 2 Spot in UNIX RDBMS Software
Segment
SAN JOSE, Calif., May 23, 2001 — The downturn in the U.S. economy from mid 2000
continued to extend sales cycles resulting in slower growth in the worldwide database
management systems (DBMS) software market in 2000. Worldwide new license revenue
in the DBMS market reached $8.8 billion in 2000, a 10 percent increase over 1999
revenue, according to Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT and ITB).
In 1999, worldwide DBMS software revenue grew 18 percent.
"These numbers clearly show how the economic downturn has started taking its toll
on the DBMS software market," said Colleen Graham, industry analyst for Gartner
Dataquest's Information Management Software group. "In 1999, over 51 percent of
the vendors had growth in the double-digits. In 2000, only 35 percent of vendors
are able to make that claim."
"The 2000 market share numbers reinforce Gartner's view that, despite the market
consolidation, the DBMS market share wars are far from over," said Betsy Burton,
vice president and research area director for Gartner. "IBM, Microsoft and Oracle
will continue to battle for DBMS market dominance with the major influencing factors
being ISV and applications support, pricing, depth of OS platform support and DBMS
scalability and availability."
The top three vendors (Oracle, IBM and Microsoft) accounted for 79 percent of all
DBMS software revenue in 2000 (see Table 1). Despite continued pressure from IBM,
Oracle held onto the No. 1 position with a 33.8 percent market share. Sybase moved
into the No. 4 position, while Informix was challenged with management changes and
assimilation challenges from its acquisition of Ardent.
Table 1
Worldwide Database Management Systems Software New License Revenue
Market Share Estimates for 2000
| Company |
2000 Market Share (Percent) |
1999 Market Share (Percent) |
| Oracle |
33.8 |
31.4 |
| IBM |
30.1 |
29.9 |
| Microsoft |
14.9 |
13.1 |
| Sybase |
3.2 |
3.3 |
| Informix |
3.0 |
5.0 |
| Others |
15.0 |
17.3 |
| Total Market |
100.0 |
100.0 |
Source: Gartner Dataquest (May 2001)
While the pre-relational and object database markets suffered negative growth in
2000, the relational database management systems (RDBMS) software segment grew 15
percent. RDBMS accounted for 80 percent of total DBMS software market.
One of the fiercest battles was in the Windows NT platform of the RDBMS segment.
Growing 45 percent, Microsoft took the lead from Oracle by less than one share point,
leaving them neck and neck at 38 and 37.3 percent share, respectively. IBM maintained
the No. 3 position, as it grew 63 percent and its market share reached 18.5 percent.
The overall NT segment increased 34 percent.
The worldwide UNIX RDBMS segment grew 17 percent in 2000, as Oracle continued to
lead the market with its market share of 66.2 percent. With a renewed focus on UNIX,
IBM surpassed Informix to move into the No. 2 position with a 14.4 percent market
share, and Informix was the No. 3 vendor with a 6.7 percent market share.
Additional analysis is available in the Gartner Dataquest Research Brief, "Database
Management Systems Software Market Maintains Double-Digit Growth in 2000." This
report offers a first look at the leaders in the DBMS market, providing market share
charts for the leaders in the overall market as well as in the relational database
management systems market. More detailed data will follow in the Market Statistics
and Market Trends reports.
This information is produced by Gartner Dataquest's Software Applications group.
This group analyzes application product market trends, player positioning and channels
of the packaged business application software market. To purchase these reports
or subscribe to Gartner Dataquest's Software Applications Worldwide program, please
call 408-468-8000.
Gartner Dataquest is the recognized leader in providing the high-technology and
financial communities with market intelligence for the semiconductor, computer systems
and peripherals, communications, document management, software and services sectors
of the global information technology industry.
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understand technology and drive business growth. Gartner's divisions consist of
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in 1979, Gartner, Inc. is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut and consists of
4,600 associates, including 1,400 research analysts and consultants, in more than
80 locations worldwide. The company achieved fiscal 2000 revenue of $859 million.
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