Server Hardware Market in Russia: Analysis of Competition before the Events of 2022

Abstract

The server is the main element of the IT infrastructure of any enterprise. Currently, there is a growing demand for server equipment in the world due to the growth of innovations, the construction of data centers and an increase in data volume. The current geopolitical situation has significantly affected the Russian server market – almost all major international vendors have left the country or suspended their deliveries. This situation led to a shortage of server equipment in Russia, which was the impetus for the further development of domestic manufacturers. This article presents the results of the analysis of the server hardware market based on data collected by the IDC analytical company on the number of servers sold by each vendor from 2018 to 2020. As the main tool, the SV (strength/variety) matrix was used to assess the level of dominance in the industry, which is based on concentration indices, Linda and the modified Hall-Taidman coefficient. The analysis of individual quadrants of the SV matrix showed that the Russian server equipment market from 2018 and 2019 from the Red Ocean quadrant, which indicated that companies were fighting for market shares, moved to the B4 quadrant, that is, the industry became highly concentrated – a natural oligopoly was observed in the server equipment market. With the departure of foreign companies from 2022, the distribution of player shares will be significantly changed, which determines the interest of studying competition in the server equipment market in the future period.