High-end Servers

IBM is again the winner, followed by HP. Sun, which was in second place last year, has moved to third position and Dell is the new entrant in the Club. Compared to last year, the difference between IBM and HP has widened from just four index points to 23. Last year, our brand-switch matrix predicted that IBM would win more from the other brands than HP could. This may be the reason for the increasing distance between the two.

Last year we had defined this category as RISC servers. We changed the nomenclature this year to reflect the fact that RISC is no longer the defining characteristic of this category. 

Dell has the lowest brand loyalty amongst those who made it to the Users' Choice Club-57 percent. Current Dell users are more likely to move to IBM (22 percent) than to HP (13 percent) or Sun (nine percent). On the other hand, Dell's gains will come more from those who did not make the cut. Dell's business model may have a significant say in this pattern. One more thing that the players need to be concerned about is that brand loyalties in both the server segments are down from last year's

levels.

Let us move to Sun, who was number two last year but slipped to number three this year. This has to be read in conjunction with the Workgroup Servers segment, where Sun is a new entrant into the Users' Choice Club. Does this result from a shift in focus for Sun, from the big iron to smaller servers?

Last year, HP and IBM were gaining and losing more or less equal percentages from each other. This year, too, they are more or less evenly matched with IBM having a slight edge. Further, IBM stands to win from Dell and Sun; Sun from HP and others; and HP from all around. In short, we can expect to see more changes in this segment by the same time next year, and Dell in particular needs to watch out.

2003