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How Many SPARC Processors Deployed in Servers? - 1987-2003

March 2004 article by Zsolt Kerekes
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I was asked recently if I had any idea how many SPARC processors have been deployed in servers and workstations since the market started back in 1987.

The simple answer was - no...

Sure, I did calculate the size of the SPARC market back in 1992 when I first published the SPARC Product Directory, and from time to time updated those estimates. More recently quarterly and annual SPARC computer shipments and revenue data have appeared in these news pages from time to time.

So I realised that although I didn't have a good grasp of the numbers any more, I had most of the information I needed to make a stab at some estimates.

Post Millenium - Jan 2000 to Dec 2003

Over 5 million SPARC CPUs

In estimating the above figure - I had used the following estimates. The average server used 3 CPUs. The average workstation used 1.5 CPUs. I realise that lots of you may have dozens of SPARC processors in your biggest servers, but that's outweighed by the larger number of servers with upto 4 CPUs.

Pre Millenium - 1987 to 1999

Approximately 3 million SPARC CPUs.

Interestingly there were 5 main manufacturers of SPARC chips during this early period and over 50 manufacturers of SPARC systems.

How Many SPARC Processors 1987-2003?

From all the data I've seen I think a floor level of 8 million SPARC CPUs is a conservative estimate. The true number is more likely to be higher than lower.

Please bear in mind these are estimates based on computer shipments. If a manufacturer uses a SPARC CPU in a dumb terminal, printer or photocopier that's not something which gives a useful idea of the size of the historic SPARC computing base market, and is not counted.

If someone from Sun marketing would like to cast more light on this, they should feel free to contact me with the relevant supporting data.

Acknowledgements

The data I used came from a variety of sources including financial data from various SPARC manufacturers. In particular, data from market research companies Gartner and IDC which appeared in press releases in the SPARC Product Directory were very helpful covering the period 2000 onwards. Any errors in facts or interpretation of trends are my fault alone.
SSD Market Analysts
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It had been a very long wait!
Spellerbyte had predicted today's buzzing
SSD market way back in the 1750s before
most homes had PCs (or even electricity).
SPARC history
SPARC History
Spellabyte and Terrorbyte loved sitting around the campfire, discussing the good old days of SPARC computing.
What's This SPARC Stuff?

The word SPARC doesn't appear on Sun Microsystems' home page most of the time, not even in the small print, so I'm often asked - what has SPARC got to do with Sun?

A simple answer is that SPARC is the processor which made Sun a multi-billion dollar server company, whereas AMD's Intel Architecture chips power Sun's Linux servers (which 99% of Linux buyers don't buy). Sun's pretensions to be a born again Intel Architecture server company could sadly shrink Sun back into a black dwarf. This publication has been focused on SPARC computers and compatible hardware and suppliers since 1992. It's mapped the comings and goings of hundreds of SPARC compatible hardware companies through periods of market growth, decline and transformation.
...Later:- in Sun President and COO Jonathan Schwartz's blog - February 19, 2005 - the statistics for the number of Solaris 10 licenses downloaded since first commercial ship were revealed as follows:-
  • SPARC: 191,107
  • x64/x86: 348,155
The vast majority of SPARC servers and workstations would still be running Solaris 9 or older at the time these numbers were released.

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