Gartner Dataquest Says Worldwide Workstation Shipments Increased 11 Percent in 2000

SAN JOSE, Calif., February 5, 2001 - Worldwide workstation shipments surpassed 1.6 million units in 2000, an 11 percent increase over 1999 shipments, according to preliminary results from Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner Group Inc. (NYSE: IT and ITB). While there are concerns the slowing economy may impact the workstation industry, there is also optimism for 2001. Gartner Dataquest analysts said the industry may see some upturn in 2001 with the implementation of the Pentium 4-based uniprocessor workstation.

"The industry is still anxiously waiting to see the market reception for the Pentium 4-based uniprocessor workstations. They represent a significant change in product positioning since dual processor scalability is a key component of current IA workstation definition. Because the product was introduced in the fourth quarter, the shipments were only in the hundreds," said Pia Rieppo, principal analyst covering workstations for Gartner Dataquest's Computing Platform Worldwide group. "We expect the Pentium 4 ramp up in the first and second quarters of 2001, although many end users may bypass these workstations and wait until the dual-processor chipsets and the Pentium 4 Xeon CPU arrives this spring."

Three of the top-tier vendors experienced double-digit growth rates for the year (see Table 1). Dell moved into the No. 1 position as its market share surpassed 23 percent for 2000.

Table 1
Preliminary Worldwide Workstation Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2000 (Units)
Company 2000
Shipments		 2000 Market
Share (%)		 1999
Shipments		 1999 Market
Share (%)		 Growth (%)
Dell 381,718 23.1 238,184 16.0 60.3
Sun Microsystems 358,909 21.7 322,541 21.6 11.3
Hewlett-Packard 289,674 17.5 312,031 20.9 -7.2
Compaq 230,248 13.9 208,268 14.0 10.6
IBM 76,264 10.7 217,774 14.6 -19.1
Others 215,439 13.0 193,686 13.0 11.2
Total Market 1,652,252 100.0 1,492,484 100.0 10.7
Source: Gartner Dataquest (February 2001)

In the fourth quarter of 2000, the workstation market grew 11.3 percent, but there were some concerns among some manufacturers.

"A number of vendors reported slackening demand in the United States. The U.S. market consumes about half of the current workstation shipments, so there will be continued focus on the trends in the U.S. workstation market," said Shahin Naftchi, senior analyst covering servers and workstations for Gartner Dataquest's Computing Platform Worldwide group. "Our research shows that the U.S. market is expected to continue to be weak in the early part of 2001."

These results are preliminary at this time. Final statistics will be available soon to clients of Gartner Dataquest's Workstations Quarterly Statistics Worldwide program. This program offers a comprehensive, global market information service that analyzes and documents the workstation industry. To subscribe to these programs, please call 800-419-DATA, or 408-468-8009.

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.

About Gartner
Gartner provides unrivaled thought leadership for more than 10,000 organizations, helping clients to achieve their business objectives through the intelligent and efficient use of technology. Additionally, Gartner helps technology companies identify and maximize technology market opportunities. Gartner's technology content and strong brand reach IT professionals globally through Gartner Research, its research and advisory unit; Gartner Services, its custom consulting unit; Gartner Events, including Gartner's renowned Symposia; and, at http://www.gartner.com. Gartner subsidiary TechRepublic, Inc. (www.techrepublic.com) is the leading online destination developed exclusively for IT professionals by IT professionals. Gartner, founded in 1979 and headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, achieved fiscal 2000 revenue of $859 million. Gartner's 4,300 associates, including 1,400 research analysts and consultants, are in more than 80 locations worldwide. For more information about Gartner's industry-leading products and services, please visit us on the Web at http://www.gartner.com.