Setting the record straight
October 8th, 2009 by Ian Bruce 
Del.icio.us
This week there’s been several reports from Red Hat about their momentum and share in the Linux market. They’ve made some very specific claims that we have to correct.
First, to borrow an analogy from the old car rental business, we should acknowledge that in the Linux market Novell is definitely “Avis” to Red Hat’s “Hertz”: we’re in second place and we try harder. There’s no question about that.
It’s also true that when you look at the best independent data supplied by IDC, we’re growing and taking market share from Red Hat. In IDC’s latest report published this year, we grew at over 50 percent (measured by Worldwide Linux operating system new license shipments, subscriptions and maintenance revenues) and took 5 points in the market, while Red Hat shrunk by about 4 points.
In recent published news stories Red Hat claimed to have a “75% market share” in the paid Linux server market. Not true. According to IDC, they have about 62% of share. Novell has about 28 percent.
Another report from financial analysts at JP Morgan, citing Red Hat data, claimed that in the IBM System Z market for Linux on the mainframe Red Hat “has gone from zero share on System Z mainframes to 60 percent in the short time that it has had a product to offer for this platform.” Again, not true. According to Gartner, Novell has by far the largest market share which they estimate at 70 percent.
It would be nice if Red Hat set the record straight.
It’s good to have competition in any market, including markets for open source products. Customers benefit when there’s choice, and customers vote on the best suppliers with their wallets. We’re coming from second place, but if you look at the IDC data, customers like what we have to offer. New customers like GEICO, National Vision and the State of Montana. We’re also making it easier for channel partners and their customers to do business with Novell, which will accelerate our momentum. Stay tuned for more on this.
October 8th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
There are lies, damned lies and statistics. You can keep fudging the numbers if you want. 75% or 68%, Red Hat is still by and far the leader. You can quote some IDC stats, Red Hat will quote some other stats. Customers will make up their own opinions. That’s all that matters.
October 10th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
So maybe you could explain why Red Hat turns a profit every quarter and Novell continues to forecast a profit in the next 12-18 months which they have been doing for the last 10 years. WOO HOO, Go Novell,
October 14th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
[...] Para maiores detalhes acessem a notícia no site internetnews.com, IDC ou Novell. [...]
October 19th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
you can’t play games on Linux.” it’s practically the only argument against Linux these days.
as far as I see it, Windows is behind Linux on so many levels for so many reasons.
linux is far more flexible
linux is far more secure
linux is far more reliable
November 8th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
[...] lock-in” story. Red Hat doesn’t have 75 percent of the paid Linux market (or, probably more accurately, 62 percent, according to IDC) because of its lock-in [...]