Hyperscalers fuel $112B server spending spree in Q3

Steven

Hyperscalers fuel $112B server spending spree in Q3

Summary

The global server market surged to a record $112.4 billion in Q3 2025, driven largely by AI-driven infrastructure purchases from hyperscalers and cloud providers, according to IDC. Vendor revenue climbed 61% year-on-year as accelerated (GPU/accelerator) systems and non-x86 architectures saw explosive growth. By contrast, enterprise external storage growth was modest at 2.1% for the quarter, with flash systems gaining share while hybrid and HDD-based arrays declined.

Key Points

  • Q3 2025 server revenue hit $112.4bn, up 61% year-on-year, per IDC.
  • x86 server revenue rose 32.8% to $76.3bn; non-x86 systems jumped 192.7% to $36.2bn.
  • Servers with embedded GPUs now account for more than half of server revenue, growing 49.4% year-on-year.
  • First three quarters of 2025: server market reached $314.2bn — nearly double 2024 levels for the same period.
  • Regional leaders: US (+79.1% server revenue, 105.5% jump in accelerated servers), Canada (+69.8%), China (+37.6%).
  • Top OEM shares: Dell 8.3%, Supermicro 4.0% (revenue down 13.2% YoY), IEIT Systems 3.7%, Lenovo 3.6%, HPE 3.0%.
  • Enterprise external storage vendor revenue grew just 2.1% to $8.0bn; all-flash arrays grew 17.6% while hybrid and HDD systems fell.
  • Mid-range storage ($25k–$250k) was the fastest-growing storage segment (+8.1%); high-end and entry-level systems declined.
  • Dell is the largest external storage supplier with a 22.7% revenue share; Pure Storage posted double-digit growth.
  • IDC highlights a widening split: AI-first server spending is soaking up capital while enterprise storage advances more cautiously.

Content Summary

IDC attributes the record server revenues to accelerated infrastructure purchases for AI training and inference, chiefly by hyperscalers and large cloud providers. The shift towards non-x86 architectures and GPU-embedded servers has materially changed the revenue mix. While servers are experiencing historic double-digit growth, enterprise storage expansion is far more muted and shows clear movement towards flash-centric systems, especially in mid-range tiers.

Regionally, the US dominated server growth; China remains a significant contributor, accounting for nearly one-fifth of global quarterly server revenue. Among suppliers, Dell leads on server and storage revenue, though market share is fragmented and some vendors saw YoY declines despite the broader market surge.

Context and Relevance

This report underlines how AI workloads are reshaping datacentre procurement, vendor product mixes and regional demand patterns. The rapid uptake of accelerators and alternative architectures signals supplier opportunities and supply-chain stresses (memory, GPUs, specialised silicon). For storage vendors and CIOs, the message is clear: flash is winning, mid-range arrays matter, and traditional HDD-centric models are losing momentum.

Why should I read this?

Short version: hyperscalers are splashing cash and that’s changing the whole kit-and-caboodle of datacentre kit. If you buy, sell, run or design infra — especially anything to do with AI — this tells you where capacity, prices and priorities are heading. We skimmed the numbers so you don’t have to — big growth in servers, cautious storage gains, and flash stealing the show.

Source

Source: https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2025/12/15/idc_server_storage_q3/