The global server market delivered one of its strongest quarters on record in the third quarter of 2025, underscoring how AI workloads and cloud-scale deployments are reshaping enterprise infrastructure investment. New figures from IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker show total worldwide server revenue reached $112.4 billion during the quarter, marking a year-over-year increase of 61 percent compared with the same period in 2024.
The surge reflects a market increasingly driven by accelerated computing, stated IDC. While x86 servers continued to represent the largest portion of revenue, growth in this segment was comparatively moderate, rising 32.8 percent year over year to $76.3 billion. By contrast, non-x86 systems posted explosive expansion, with revenue climbing 192.7 percent to $36.2 billion, highlighting the growing role of alternative architectures optimized for AI, high-performance computing, and specialized workloads.
Servers equipped with embedded GPUs emerged as the central engine of growth, according to IDC. Revenue from these systems rose 49.4 percent year over year in the third quarter and accounted for more than half of total server market revenue. Hyperscalers and cloud service providers have been the primary drivers, rapidly scaling GPU-dense infrastructure to support generative AI, large language models, and advanced analytics. As a result, the global server market has nearly doubled in size compared with 2024, reaching $314.2 billion in revenue for the first three quarters of 2025 combined.
IDC notes that demand momentum remains strong as vendors report record order volumes and sustained backlogs. Large-scale AI deployments continue to require far higher compute density than traditional enterprise systems, while research and education institutions are also beginning to invest heavily in AI-focused infrastructure. These factors suggest that growth is broadening beyond commercial cloud environments into public-sector and academic use cases.
US, Canada, China
Regionally, the United States led the market with year-over-year growth of 79.1 percent in the third quarter, driven largely by a 105.5 percent increase in accelerated server revenue. Canada followed with growth of 69.8 percent, also fueled by demand for GPU-based systems. China recorded 37.6 percent growth and accounted for nearly one-fifth of global quarterly server revenue, reflecting continued large-scale investment despite a more complex geopolitical environment. Other regions also delivered robust double-digit growth, including Asia Pacific excluding Japan and China at 37.4 percent, EMEA at 31.0 percent, and Japan at 28.1 percent. Latin America was the exception, posting a more modest increase of 4.1 percent.
In terms of vendor standings, Dell Technologies retained a clear lead in the OEM server market with an 8.3 percent revenue share, supported by strong performance in accelerated servers. Supermicro ranked second with a 4.0 percent share, although its revenue declined 13.2 percent year over year. IEIT Systems and Lenovo were statistically tied for third place with 3.7 percent and 3.6 percent market share respectively, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise rounded out the top five with a 3.0 percent share.
Executive Insights FAQ
What is driving the rapid growth of the server market in 2025?
AI adoption, particularly GPU-accelerated workloads deployed by hyperscalers and cloud providers, is the primary growth driver.
Why are non-x86 servers growing faster than x86 systems?
Non-x86 architectures are increasingly optimized for AI and high-performance computing, leading to significantly higher demand.
Which regions are investing most aggressively in server infrastructure?
The United States, Canada, and China are leading growth, with strong momentum also visible across EMEA and Asia Pacific.
How important are GPU-equipped servers to overall market revenue?
Servers with embedded GPUs now generate more than half of total server market revenue worldwide.
What does this growth mean for enterprises and service providers?
Organizations face rising pressure to modernize infrastructure for AI workloads, while vendors must scale supply chains and innovation.
