HP and IBM Battle for Cloud Equipment Market Leadership; Cisco Closes the Gap

RENO, NV — Synergy Technology Group announces the publication of the 4Q11 Cloud Equipment Market Share report. This report provides quarterly earnings and market shares for computing systems, storage systems and networking infrastructure that are used to support the provision of public and private cloud services.

The fourth quarter of 2011 saw cloud equipment earnings reach $10.6 billion, giving a 2011 total of $39.4 billion -- up 15% from 2010. North America continued to account for the largest share of the worldwide market, nevertheless growth rates in both the EMEA and Asia-Pac regions were substantially higher than North America. IBM saw a year-end spike in earnings and nearly caught up with HP in the fourth quarter, yet for the year in the aggregate HP maintained a gap and accounted for 17.4% of worldwide earnings, compared to 15.9% for IBM. It is notable that HP grew its cloud equipment revenues by 10% in 2011 during IBM's growth was just 2%; in 2010 the two companies were virtually tied for the position of lead vendor in this segment.

Meanwhile, networking giant Cisco registered revenue growth of 23% from 2010 to 2011 and closed the gap on its computing competitors. Come to think of it, in North America Cisco was in substance tied with HP and IBM for market leadership in the final quarter of 2011. It dominates the networking segment of the market and is as well making an impact on the computing systems segment via its blade servers.

Synergy Technology Group provides market intelligence, analytics, and strategic consulting services to the networking and telecom industries. For over a decade, Synergy has been a respected leader for quantitative analysis with a focus on emerging technologies, being the first to track IP Telephony and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) equipment. Synergy Innovation Group delivers quarterly data and analytical web-based tools with a comprehensive set of syndicated technology services covering UC Applications, Enterprise Voice, Data Center, Mobile Internet Infrastructure, Videoconferencing & TelePresence, Network Security, Cloud Communication & Collaboration, Content Delivery Networks, IPTV, Routers, Ethernet Switching, Service Provider VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), SAN, Smart Grid, WLANs, and emerging IP communication technologies.