DIGITIMES Research estimates that global server shipments in the third quarter of 2024 will grow by 4.3% compared to the previous quarter, surpassing its earlier forecasts. Major US cloud service providers are continuing to expand their procurement of next-generation general-purpose servers in the third quarter, and most cloud providers are also increasing their purchases of high-end AI servers compared to the previous quarter.
In terms of shipments, the performance of server brand vendors fell short of previous expectations as the vendors had witnessed their customers reduce general-purpose server procurement in an effort to buy more high-priced AI servers.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, global server shipments are expected to decrease by 5.2% quarter-on-quarter because of the high comparison base in the third quarter as a result of the major US cloud service providers' keen server procurement and the fact that shipments of Nvidia GB200 AI server racks are expected to begin, which should cause a deceleration in the shipment pace of general-purpose servers.
Table 1: Key factors affecting 4Q24 global server shipments: Supply/demand
Chart 2: Global shipments by top-10 player, 3Q23-4Q24 (k units)
Chart 4: Taiwan server shipments and global share, 3Q23-4Q24 (k units)
Chart 34: Taiwan and global server shipments, 2020-2024 (k units)
Chart 35: Global server shipments by top-10 player, 2023-2024 (k units)
Chart 36: Taiwan server shipments by top maker, 2023-2024 (k units)
