Unix will continue to maintain its grasp on the high-end multi-user server market for the foreseeable future, according to a report by InfoCorp. It says Windows NT – launched today will only have a 12% share of the server market – 11% in revenue – by 1997, by which time Unix should have 64%, 62% by value. It says Windows NT revenue will be won primarily at the expense of proprietary systems – which will slip from 29% to 22% revenue market share – and other network operating systems such as OS/2. Proprietary systems will lose slightly in terms of units shipped – Unix will drop from a high of 70% in 1992 to 64% in 1997, while other network operating systems will slide from 20% to 15% in 1997. InfoCorp sees shipments of multi-user systems with an average selling price between $15,000 and $1m to grow from 509,000 units in 1992 to 643,000 units in 1997 – a compound annual growth rate of 6%. The server market is expected to have a compound annual growth rate of at least 21% up to 1997 growing from 34% of the total number of systems shipped and 18% of manufacturers’ revenue in 1992 to 67% and 34%, respectively, by 1997.
