Global server shipments in the first quarter of 2026 exceeded previous expectations, growing 4% sequentially. Major US cloud service providers (CSPs) and brand vendors both outperformed expectations.
The popularity of agentic AI tools such as Anthropic's Claude Code and OpenClaw not only accelerated the consumption of GPUs and ASICs in token generation but also significantly increased CPU reliance on task coordination and tool invocation in the automation process, leading CSPs to shift their shipment focus to general-purpose servers.
On the brand vendor side, orders for AI and general-purpose servers from second-tier CSPs saw strong growth, and traditional enterprise customers also initiated server replacements due to rising server prices and the need for agentic AI deployments. All of these factors contributed to stronger-than-expected first-quarter 2026 shipments.
Chart 1: Key factors affecting 2Q26 global server shipments: Supply/demand
Chart 3: Global shipments by top-10 player, 4Q24-2Q26 (k units)
Chart 5: Taiwan server shipments and global share, 4Q24-2Q26 (k units)
Chart 38: Taiwan and global server shipments, 2021-2025 (k units)
Chart 39: Global server shipments by top-10 player, 2024-2025 (k units)
Chart 40: Taiwan server shipments by top maker, 2024-2025 (k units)
