Global Server Market: Leading Brands and Shares (2024–2025)

The global server market experienced significant growth in 2024–2025, driven by increasing demand for AI and cloud services. According to IDC, the market has more than doubled since 2020, reaching $235.7 billion in revenue by 2024. High-capacity GPU servers drove much of this growth: in Q4 2024, GPU-equipped servers increased by 192.6% year-over-year, and over half of all server revenue in 2024 came from these servers. IDC now projects ~$366 billion market value in 2025 (≈45% growth). This surge has sparked fierce competition among vendors, ranging from traditional brands to new, hyperscale-focused suppliers. The table below (IDC Q4 2024 data) shows the top vendor revenue shares:

Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker (Q4 2024).

Dell Technologies

• Market position: Dell remains the leading vendor of enterprise servers. In Q4 2024, IDC put Dell’s revenue share at 7.2% (a statistical tie for first place). This represents a substantial slice of a vast market.

• Growth: Dell’s server revenue grew about 20.6% YoY in late 2024, helped by strong demand for AI‑ready systems. Dell’s server & networking segment hit $6.3 billion in Q2 2025 (up 16% YoY) as customers upgraded to GPUs and faster CPUs.

• Strengths: Dell offers a broad portfolio of servers (PowerEdge rack/tower systems, modular blades, and high-density GPU servers) that cater to enterprise, cloud, and HPC/data-center customers. Its strong channel reach and early AI server designs (including NVIDIA GPU partnerships) help it win large data center and cloud orders.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)

• Market position: HPE is a close challenger. IDC gave HPE about 5.5% market share in Q4 2024, tying it with other vendors for second place. HPE (including H3C) traditionally competes with Dell for market share in the enterprise and telecom sectors.

• Growth: HPE’s server business is experiencing healthy growth driven by AI and cloud refreshes. In Q1 FY2025 (ending April 2024), HPE’s server revenue rose 6% year-over-year to $4.1 billion. (The company reported 16–18% gains in server revenue in some quarters as it added more GPU-accelerated systems.)

• Strengths: HPE focuses on hybrid cloud and edge solutions. Its ProLiant servers now come with AI accelerators (NVIDIA GPUs) and tie into HPE GreenLake cloud services. HPE also leads in high-end and mission-critical servers (Superdome) and offers integrated hyperconverged and composable infrastructure, which appeals to large enterprises.

Lenovo

• Market position: Lenovo’s Data Center Group (DCG) is rapidly rising. IDC data show Lenovo with a share of approximately 4.9% in Q4 2024, ranking it as the fifth-largest vendor. Lenovo often ranks in the global top five alongside Inspur and HPE.

• Growth: Lenovo has posted the fastest growth among top vendors. In Q4 2024, its server revenue jumped 70% year-over-year. Much of this growth comes from Lenovo’s push into cloud and enterprise (for example, its partnership with Nutanix for hybrid cloud) and from strong sales in Asia.

• Strengths: Lenovo offers value-oriented, rack-optimized servers. It serves both public cloud clients in China and traditional enterprise customers. Lenovo’s strengths include tight integration with its own networking and storage equipment and a fast go-to-market approach for new Intel/AMD platforms.

Supermicro

• Market position: Super Micro Computer has emerged as a top player. IDC credits Supermicro with 6.5% revenue share in Q4 2024, making it virtually tied with Dell for the #1 spot that quarter. (Supermicro’s share is usually slightly below Dell’s, but Q4 was powerful.)

• Growth: Supermicro’s growth has been phenomenal – about 55% YoY in Q4 2024. It is winning big orders for GPU-accelerated servers, which are in huge demand for AI workloads. In 2024 Supermicro reported record revenue as hyperscalers and enterprises adopted its GPU-dense models.

• Strengths: Supermicro specializes in high-density, GPU-optimized servers. It works closely with chip makers (NVIDIA, AMD) to deliver custom server designs. Its flexibility and speed to market make it a favorite for AI clusters and cloud providers. Supermicro’s “building block” approach (designing servers to customer specs) has helped it outpace many legacy vendors.

Cisco

• Market position: Cisco sells servers as part of its UCS (Unified Computing System), which tightly integrates networking with computing. Cisco’s UCS is popular in enterprises that already use Cisco networking, but it is not among IDC’s top five global server vendors. This suggests Cisco’s overall market share is modest compared to the leaders above.

• Strengths: Cisco’s strength lies in convergence, as UCS blades/racks come with Cisco switches and management built in. This appeals to existing Cisco customers for simplified data centers. However, Cisco’s focus has been on niche and smaller segments (e.g., specific telecom and enterprise customers) rather than broad hyperscale deployments.

Other Vendors

Other players round out the market. For example, Inspur (China’s IEIT Systems) claimed about 5.0% share in Q4 2024, specializing in cloud/HPC servers in Asia. IBM now focuses on Power-based enterprise servers (its Intel x86 business was spun off years ago) – IBM’s general-purpose server share is relatively small. Oracle builds servers (x86 and SPARC) tightly coupled to its software stack. Huawei (mainly in China) and Fujitsu (in Japan/EU) also supply servers regionally. Together, these “other” vendors account for the rest of the market outside the top five. (Notably, nearly half of all server revenue comes from non-branded ODM suppliers like Quanta, whose custom designs go directly to the big cloud operators.)

Industry Trends and Outlook

• AI and GPUs: The shift to AI is the dominant trend. IDC reports that in Q4 2024, GPU-equipped servers grew 192.6% YoY, and for all of 2024, GPU servers were more than half of total revenue. NVIDIA dominates this niche (over 90% of GPU server shipments). All major vendors are rushing to incorporate GPUs and AI accelerators into their portfolios.

• Hyperscale Cloud and ODMs: Hyperscale data centers (e.g., AWS, Google, Microsoft) are by far the largest customers. In Q4 2024, 47.3% of server revenue came through ODM (“original design manufacturer”) deals, meaning custom-built servers were sold directly to cloud giants. This large ODM segment dwarfs individual brand shares (the five brands above sum to <30%), and it continually reshuffles vendor rankings based on who wins big cloud contracts.

• Market Growth: With a backdrop of surging demand, global server spending is experiencing a significant surge. IDC projects roughly $366B in 2025 (about +45% over 2024). This aligns with Gartner’s forecasts (nearly triple 2022 levels by 2025). By 2024, the market had already doubled since 2020. Vendors that supply AI-ready and cloud-scale servers are well-positioned to capitalize on this growth.

• Regional Demand: North America dominates consumption, accounting for 56% of Q4 2024 revenue, primarily driven by large U.S. cloud and enterprise spending. China is the second-largest region (~24% of Q4 revenue), driven by local hyperscalers and government AI projects. Demand in Europe and Asia-Pacific is also growing, especially as AI projects expand globally.

• Server Architecture Shifts: X86 servers continue to dominate the market, but new trends are emerging. ARM-based servers (used by hyperscalers for efficiency) are rapidly gaining share (expected ~21% of shipments by 2025). Vendors are also emphasizing energy-efficient designs and modular, liquid-cooled systems to manage power costs in large data centers.

Table: Top Server Vendors (Q4 2024 IDC) – IDC’s latest quarterly tracker shows these revenue shares for major brands.

In summary, Dell and HPE remain the top traditional server vendors, but others are gaining ground on them. Lenovo has surged on aggressive growth, Supermicro has leaped ahead with GPU servers, and Inspur is a major force in Asia. Meanwhile, cloud giants and ODM partners command nearly half of the spending. Looking ahead, the race will be won by companies that can align their hardware with AI workloads and hyperscale needs.