2017 a Record Year for Infrastructure Shipments – Cisco, Dell EMC and HPE Account for 50%
March 16, 2018 | CanalysEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
The value of worldwide infrastructure shipments, including servers, storage and networking products, reached a record $142 billion in 2017, up 7% on the previous year. Strong growth in servers was the primary factor. Rising DRAM component costs and increasing demand for higher server specifications resulted in ASPs increasing faster than unit shipments. This, combined with ongoing data center expansion by hyperscale cloud service providers, and the start of a new enterprise refresh cycle following the launch of the next generation of Intel and AMD processors, increased server shipment value to US$66 billion. Storage returned to growth after a period of disruption, as spending moved to all-flash and software-defined products. These offset the decline in traditional HDD storage arrays. Networking continued to grow, as investment in data center switching and 11ac Wave 2 wireless LANs for campus and branch environments remained strong. Overall, Ethernet switching grew 7% and wireless LANs were up 9%. Service provider routing remained positive at 1%, but enterprise routing fell 9%.
2017 was also a strong year for the channel selling servers, storage and networking. “The channel continued to dominate infrastructure shipments, collectively representing 74% of the worldwide total,” said Canalys Principal Analyst Matthew Ball. “But direct grew faster, due to the increasing role of Chinese and Taiwanese ODM server vendors selling large volumes to cloud service providers. Direct accounted for 34% of server shipments, compared with 19% for storage and 20% for networking. The massive capital expenditure planned by the hyperscale cloud service providers in upgrading and expanding existing data centers, as well as increasing their geographic presence, will maintain this trend in 2018.”
The top three infrastructure vendors in 2017 were Cisco, Dell EMC and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), which collectively accounted for 50% of total worldwide shipments. “Cisco’s dominance in networking helped it maintain its lead of 20% in the overall infrastructure market. Its focus is on moving its predominantly hardware-centric customer base to software and subscriptions,” said Ball. “Dell EMC completed its first full year of operations, following the US$67 billion merger in September 2016, making it a leader in servers and storage. It grew its share of infrastructure shipments to 15% and was one of the fastest-growing vendors through the channel. HPE’s share of infrastructure shipments was 14%. The focus of its server business has shifted to higher-value segments, with growth in HCI and HPC. The acquisition of Nimble boosted its storage business last year, while Aruba is driving growth in wireless LANs as part of its intelligent edge strategy.”
About Canalys
Canalys is an independent analyst company that strives to guide clients on the future of the technology industry and to think beyond the business models of the past. We deliver smart market insights to IT, channel and service provider professionals around the world. We stake our reputation on the quality of our data, our innovative use of technology and our high level of customer service.
Suggested Items
Gartner Survey Finds 61% of Organizations Are Evolving Their D&A Operating Model Because of AI Technologies
05/01/2024 | Gartner, Inc.Sixty-one percent of organizations are forced to evolve or rethink their data and analytics (D&A) operating model because of the impact of disruptive artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, according to a new Gartner, Inc. survey.
Real Time with… IPC APEX EXPO 2024: Operational Excellence and Smart Factory Initiatives
04/30/2024 | Real Time with...IPC APEX EXPOOperational excellence and operational efficiency are defined in this interview with Koh Young General Manager Joel Scutchfield. He touches on automation, AI, and collaboration as solutions to resource limitations. Koh Young's data-driven approach uses AI for process adjustments, data analytics, and supply chain enhancements. The discussion underscores the shift toward smart factory initiatives and the future of manufacturing, with a focus on reshoring, nearshoring, and technology utilization.
IDTechEx Report on Quantum Technology: Nano-scale Physics for Massive Market Impact
04/30/2024 | PRNewswireThe quantum technology market leverages nano-scale physics to create revolutionary new devices for computing, sensing, and communications. Across the industry, quantum technology offers a paradigm shift in performance compared with incumbent solutions.
NASA’s Optical Comms Demo Transmits Data Over 140 Million Miles
04/30/2024 | NASA JPLNASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications experiment also interfaced with the Psyche spacecraft’s communication system for the first time, transmitting engineering data to Earth.
Real Time with… IPC APEX EXPO 2024: Insight into Summit Interconnect's Success
04/30/2024 | Real Time with...IPC APEX EXPOShane Whiteside, CEO of Summit Interconnect, discusses the company's recent recognition as one of the best PCB fabricators in the industry by receiving IPC's Peter Sarmanian award. Whiteside touches on the impact of changes in the marketplace, such as the Defense Production Act and presidential determination, on their growth. Whiteside also shares the company's focus on mechanical and data automation to enhance manufacturing processes and anticipates more automation and evolution in the industry.