EARTH SCIENCES

SAN JOSE, CA -- Latin America server shipments slipped into single-digit growth rates in the second quarter of 2001, but server revenue in the region increased 21 percent, according to Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) and (NYSE:ITB). Compaq extended its lead in the Latin America server market based on shipments, while IBM maintained a strong lead based on revenue. "With a more diversified position in the server arena, IBM performed well in all three processor segments of the market," said Lillian Alvarado, senior industry analyst covering servers for Gartner Dataquest Computing Platforms Latin America group. "Compaq's success can also be seen as 23 percent of sub-$5,000 Intel architecture servers in the region were supplied by the Houston-based firm." Dell experienced the strongest growth both in shipments and revenue. Dell's shipments grew 88.6 percent, and its revenue increased 252.3 percent. Dell's sales in the $10,000 to $15,000 price range were substantial during the second quarter of 2001 compared to the same period last year. Sun Microsystems was the No. 1 vendor in the RISC server segment with 43 percent of shipments and 33 percent of revenue in the RISC market. The RISC server segment represented 46 percent of all server revenue in the Latin America server market in the second quarter. "Looking forward, it is clear that understanding and servicing small business computing solution requirements is a must for server vendors industry in Latin America. Approximately 65 percent of the companies in this region fall under the small business category, strongly suggesting that the future growth of the server industry in Latin America relies on this market segment," said Luis Anavitarte, vice president and research director for Gartner Dataquest's Latin America group. Brazil continued to lead all countries in the region, as it represented 38 percent of all server shipments in Latin America. Mexico was the No. 2 country with 20 percent of the market, followed by Argentina, which had 11 percent of server shipments in Latin America in the second quarter. This information is produced by Gartner Dataquest's Computing Platforms Latin America group. This group provides research on key aspects of the dynamic PC, server and printer hardware markets in Latin America. The focus is on regional and country issues in the top eight Latin American markets and the Rest of Latin America (ROLA) category, where Central American and Caribbean countries are grouped. For more information, visit www.gartner.com