INDUSTRY

The Linux operating system will account for 29 percent of units shipped into the worldwide server market in 2008, up from 12 percent last year, according to predictions published by the IDC research firm this week. Linux will take $9.7 billion from the $60.8 billion market when measured by revenue, according to IDC. IDC forecasts that the worldwide market for server hardware will grow at 3.8 percent per year for the next five years, jumping from $53 billion in 2004 to $60.8 billion in 2008. Growth will be strongest in central and eastern Europe and the Asia Pacific region, both of which are expected to grow more than 6.5 percent, year-over-year, until 2008, IDC predicted. Sales of blade systems are also expected to grow rapidly, according to IDC. By 2008, blade shipments are expected to reach $9 billion, or 29 percent of server units shipped. Blades accounted for just 4 percent of the server market in 2003, the research firm said. In related news, Red Hat Inc. has over 300,000 subscribers to its Red Hat Enterprise Linux support service, the company said Thursday. The company reported revenue of $41.6 million and net income of $10.7 million, or $0.05 per share, for the quarter, which ended May 31. They added 98,000 new subscriptions during the quarter, up 13 percent from the 87,000 reported during the fourth quarter of 2003. Enterprise customers purchased 75,000 of the subscriptions sold during the first quarter and the other 23,000 were sold to supercompting customers, the company said. Revenue for the quarter was slightly below Wall Street's expectations, which averaged $43 million, according to a survey of 16 analysts by Thomson First Call. Red Hat surprised the financial community Monday by announcing that the company's Chief Financial Officer, Kevin Thompson, planned to step down. Thompson, who has been with Red Hat for nearly four years is leaving to spend more time with his family, but he is expected to stay with the company until a replacement is found, Red Hat said.