IDC predicts the density optimized server units to grow more than four times as fast as the overall server market

--Dell leads new category with 45.2 percent factory revenue share in Q4 2011, and has led nine of the last 10 quarters

--Dell has greater unit and revenue share in density optimized market than the next four vendors combined

--Dell gains 2.4 points of overall x86 server factory revenue share in Q4 2011

Dell announced its continued leadership of the density optimized server market share in International Data Corporation's (IDC) Q4 2011 Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker. This is the first public reporting of the IDC's new density optimized server category, which represents server form factors delivered for scale-out environments. Based on data collected directly from server OEMs, Dell has consistently led in this category, and currently holds #1 market share at 39.0 percent unit share and 45.2 percent factory revenue share, more than double the closest competitor.

According to the report, factory revenue for density optimized servers designed for high-growth environments such as web 2.0, cloud computing and HPC grew 33.8 percent year-over-year in Q4 2011, with density optimized servers representing 3.2 percent of all server factory revenue and 6.1 percent of all server shipments. Density optimized server units are expected to grow at more than a 20 percent compound annual growth rate and reach 9.9 percent of the worldwide server market volume by 2015.

Beyond the density optimized market segment, Dell gained 2.4 points of overall x86 server factory revenue share in the quarter. Further, the annualized value of the x86 server market is $34.4 billion, 24 percent more than pre-recession levels in 2008, and now represents 65.8 percent of total server revenue.

To provide detail on servers targeted at these growing market segments, IDC defines its new category as:

-- Density optimized servers are designed for large-scale data center environments where parallelized workloads are prevalent.

-- The form factor serves the unique needs of these datacenters with streamlined system designs that focus on performance, energy efficiency, and density.

-- Density optimized servers forego the full management features and redundant hardware components found in traditional enterprise servers as these capabilities are accomplished primarily through proprietary software.

"In 2006, Dell realized that a new server market was evolving, which would have different requirements from traditional enterprise infrastructure. To address this new class of customer, Dell created DCS as an internal startup, working directly with customers to ensure we delivered new solutions for their business," said Roy Guillen, vice president and general manager, Dell Data Center Solutions. "We continue to be successful in this market because our platforms are based on direct customer input, and focused on solving the unique needs of these fast-growing market segments. Dell DCS' PowerEdge-C portfolio is designed specifically to meet customers' unique needs for web 2.0, cloud computing or high performance computing."

Dell delivers density optimized servers across two different product families, including a custom product line delivered to the largest web 2.0, cloud and HPC customers, and a publicly available line (PowerEdge-C) based on these industry-leading designs. Both product families are designed to deliver extremely high efficiency, and are supported by industry-leading solutions and global service offerings. PowerEdge-C enables any customer to take advantage of Dell DCS expertise in server designs for this market, and build on established architectures and technology.