IBM Ranks #1 in Worldwide Revenue For High Performance Computing

ARMONK, N.Y., March 14, 2003 -- IBM was the leading high performance computing vendor in the fourth quarter of 2002, according to International Data Corporation's worldwide High Performance Technical Computer Quarterly View. (1)

"Last quarter, the firm stood out among all vendors due to its solid increases in market share in nearly every segment," IDC reported.

The analyst firm added, "IBM's (eServer p690) systems sold in the capability, enterprise, and divisional segments continue to be a very important product family ... IBM is also an aggressive player in the Intel/Linux cluster market ..."

In the fourth quarter, IBM's worldwide overall high performance computing revenue share was 36.7 percent, an 11.5 point jump from the previous-year's quarter, according to IDC. Sun's revenue share was their lowest in two years at 17.8 percent. HP's share dropped 7.9 points to 31.5 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the same quarter of 2001.

In addition to its overall leadership, IBM has maintained and strengthened its number one ranking in the Technical Capability segment with 59.7 percent revenue share in the fourth quarter 2002, compared to the previous year's quarter. The Technical Capability segment measures the machines that solve the largest and most demanding scientific problems. IBM has three times the revenue share of the closest competitor in this segment, HP, which reported a 19.4 percent share for the same quarter.

IBM also led in the Divisional segment with a 36 percent share. Divisional systems range from $250,000 to $999,999 and support technical applications, according to IDC.

"IBM is serious about supercomputing and these latest results indicate that we have the right systems for solving a broad range of high performance computing problems that our customer will address today and in the future," said Surjit Chana, vice president, IBM eServer pSeries.

IBM's high performance computing addresses the complete spectrum of customer needs -- from automotive design and oilfield modeling to genomic research and motion picture animation rendering. IBM is currently building the world's most powerful supercomputer, ASCI Purple, which will be capable of processing 100 trillion calculations each second.

(1) For complete results, visit http://www.idc.com.

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Contact:
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Willow Christie,
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willowc@us.ibm.com