TIBURON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Characterizing any mature market's quarterly performance as "breakout" verges upon oxymoron. After all, no one is going to confuse the well-established workstation market with a hot emerging market, nor should the former ever expect to see the big quarter-to-quarter growth numbers of the latter. However, in light of a lackluster recent history coupled with rampant negativity associated with any PC-related market as of late, leading analyst firm Jon Peddie Research (JPR) is calling Q2'14 for the workstation market just that: a breakout quarter.
Completing its survey and analysis of market results for the second quarter, JPR reports the workstation industry achieved record levels for both unit volume and revenue. Worldwide, the industry shipped approximately 1.05 million workstations in the second quarter, corresponding to growth of 10.8 percent sequentially and 11.5 percent, year-over-year (YoY).
The welcome jump in volume shook the market loose from its recent doldrums. While results from previous quarters had clearly shown the workstation market was on a different, healthier trajectory than the related market for mainstream client PCs, the basic truth is the market had been drifting sideways for a while.
"With economic conditions more robust, and without the same threat of encroachment from tablets that has depressed PC shipments, we anticipated a meaningful thrust forward at some point," explains Senior Analyst and JPR Workstation Report author Alex Herrera. "The market is performing better than it ever has likely due, in part, to the replacement cycle caused by the end of support for Windows XP.”
No drastic change in workstation vendors' fortunes ... though Dell makes a bit more progress
Market shares among the major workstation OEMs once again changed little, with market leader HP's 39.7 percent share identical to the prior quarter's figure. A revitalized Dell hung onto its previous gains, adding a few tenths of a percentage point to move to 33.6 percent. By a relative measure, Lenovo proved to be the quarter's winner.
Though the number three vendor's gains weren't dramatic, rising from 12.9 percent to 13.7 percent, the latter level did mar a new high for the computer hardware giant.
AMD's share of professional graphics hardware shipments climbs again, on the back of FirePro shipments to Apple
Q2'14 marked the third quarter of shipments for AMD FirePro professional graphics products in Apple's recently revamped Mac Pro, and FirePro numbers continued to climb as Apple's premier professional platform ramped. With 74 percent of units shipped bearing its Quadro brand, Nvidia still commands the lion's share of the market, but AMD took another few points of market share in the quarter to rise to 25 percent.
About the JPR Workstation Report
Now in its twelfth year, JPR’s Workstation Report - Professional Computing Markets and Technologies has established itself as the essential reference guide for hardware and software vendors and suppliers serving the workstation and professional graphics markets.
Subscribers to the JPR Workstation Report receive two in-depth reports per year providing a comprehensive analysis of the vendors and technologies driving the workstation platform. Clients also receive four quarterly reports detailing and analyzing market results for each calendar quarter. For information about purchasing the JPR Workstation Report, please call 415- 435-9368 or visit Jon Peddie Research at http://www.jonpeddie.com.
Pricing and Availability
A full annual subscription to the JPR Workstation Report Series is $8,000 and includes two free passes (value $600) to Virtualize, the company’s first conference on the subject of Remote Graphics and Virtualization. Two issues are available for $5,000, and a single comprehensive issue, both with two quarters of results, is available for $2,500. Click here http://www.jonpeddie.com/publications/workstation_report/ to download the report or to learn more.
About Jon Peddie Research
Dr. Jon Peddie has been active in the graphics and multimedia fields for more than 30 years. Jon Peddie Research is a technically oriented multimedia and graphics research and consulting firm. Based in Tiburon, California, JPR provides consulting, research, and other specialized services to technology companies in a variety of fields including graphics development, multimedia for professional applications and consumer electronics, high-end computing, and Internet-access product development. Interested parties may contact Robert Dow at JPR (Robert@jonpeddie.com) for a free sample of Tech Watch, a bi-weekly report on the PC graphics industry.
