Server Market Outlook 2025: 10 Shocking Stats From IDC Quarterly Server Tracker

Server Market Outlook 2025: 10 Shocking Stats From IDC Quarterly Server Tracker

Here are some key statistics from IDC Quarterly Server Tracker that will give you a clear picture of the server market outlook for 2025.

Shipment of ARM Based Servers Grew by 70%

Arm-based servers are gaining significant traction in the global market with shipments expected to rise by 70% in 2025. While this growth is impressive, it still falls short of Arm’s ambitious goal to capture 50% of the datacenter CPU market by the end of the year.

Arm servers will account for 21.1% of total global shipments in 2025

According to IDC’s latest Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker, Arm servers will account for 21.1% of total global shipments in 2025, bolstered by the launch of large rack-scale configurations such as Nvidia DGX GB200 NVL72, which are specifically designed for AI processing.

Demand for AI Servers Grew By 46.7%

The demand for AI-driven processing is significantly shaping the server landscape. IDC estimates that servers with embedded GPUs, often termed “AI-capable” will grow by 46.7% year-over-year, making up nearly half of the server market’s total value.

GPU Powered Systems Capable of Running AI Will Triple In Next 3 Years

Hyperscalers and cloud service providers are accelerating the adoption of these GPU-powered systems, fueling a market that is set to triple in size over just three years.

Total Market Size Will Reach A Whopping $366 Billion

The overall server market reached an all-time high of $95.2 billion in Q1 2025, marking a staggering 134.1% year-over-year increase. This surge in market value has led IDC to revise its annual forecast for 2025, projecting a total market size of $366 billion, reflecting a 44.6% growth compared to 2024.

x86 Server Market Reached a Staggering 283.9 Billion

The x86 server segment, which has long dominated the industry, is expected to grow by 39.9% to $283.9 billion while non-x86 systems including Arm-based solutions are expected to grow faster with a 63.7% increase, reaching a total of $82 billion.

The growing role of artificial intelligence in shaping the future of server infrastructure is a key factor behind the server market outlook 2025. IDC’s research vice president, Kuba Stolarski, emphasized that the need for processing power to handle AI tasks is accelerating. “The evolution from simple chatbots to reasoning models to agentic AI will require several orders of magnitude more processing capacity, especially for inferencing,” Stolarski noted. The industry’s focus is shifting toward more efficient models that can scale better in multi-user environments and support the computational demands of artificial general intelligence (AGI).

Regional Server Market Outlook 2025

Here is how the regional server market outlook 2025 might look.

US Server Market Grew By 59.7%

The United States is forecasted to experience the most significant growth with a 59.7% increase in server revenue, making up nearly 62% of the total market by the end of 2025.

China Server Market Grew By 39.5 Year Over Year

China is also seeing substantial growth with a 39.5% year-over-year increase, accounting for more than 21% of the global revenue.

Asia-Pacific Will Lead With Double Digit Growth Followed By Europe, Latin America and Middle East

Other regions such as Asia-Pacific region are seeing double-digit growth rates while Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America are experiencing more modest gains.

Canada Server Market Will Experience a Decline of 9.6% in 2025

Canada is set to experience a decline of 9.6% in 2025, primarily due to the completion of a large deal in 2024.

IDC’s findings reflect the ongoing shift in the server market, driven by a growing demand for AI-capable infrastructure, rapid regional growth and the continued expansion of non-x86 systems like Arm-based servers. As hyperscalers and cloud service providers increase their investment in artificial intelligence, the server market’s future looks set to be defined by faster, more powerful solutions that can meet the rising demands of next-generation AI technologies.

What does server market outlook 2025 look like in your opinion? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.