[Digital Today reporter Chi-gyu Hwang] The global server market in the fourth quarter of 2025 hit a record high, helped by investment in AI infrastructure.

IDC data shared by Network World showed total fourth-quarter revenue in the global server market topped $125 billion. That was an increase of more than 50 percent from a year earlier. The full-year 2025 server market grew by more than 80 percent in revenue terms.

A Techzin report said systems equipped with GPUs accounted for more than half of the overall market, with large cloud providers and hyperscalers leading demand. Companies remained cautious about investing in their own data centres.

Supply-chain instability in the server market continued. Shortages of GPUs, memory and storage components worsened, leading to rising prices and supply-chain uncertainty. IDC forecast the supply-demand imbalance would continue through 2026.

By company, Dell led the market. Dell benefited the most from demand for systems optimised for AI workloads, and Super Micro also showed strength. Lenovo and the Chinese company EIT Systems followed, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) saw its share decline.

HPE's weakness is analysed as being linked to a strategic shift. IDC said HPE chose to focus on edge computing, hybrid IT and mission-critical areas rather than the general-purpose x86 market.

IDC said the server market also saw a stronger trend toward preferring a complete technology stack over a single system.

That creates an environment favourable to companies with broad product lineups. It also said large cloud companies are increasing in-house server development, narrowing the space for traditional vendors to break into.