Server industry set to rebound

The global computer server industry is expected to move out of the doldrums in 2010 as businesses start spending again, analysts have forecast.

JPMorgan believes server revenues will increase by 14.3% in 2010, compared with an earlier forecast of just 6.2%, FT.com reports.

In contrast, worldwide server revenues fell 18.9% to $43.2 billion (€32.3 billion) last year, said IDC, as businesses deferred new purchases amid the economic slowdown.

But analysts cited by the FT say new-generation servers offer a pay-back period for buyers of only a few months due to lower power and cooling costs in the new systems.

IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Oracle have all recently unveiled new more-efficient server products.

Processor vendor AMD, a rival to Intel, has also joined the technology race, unveiling eight-core and 12-core processors last week.