Artificial Intelligence is reshaping the corporate infrastructure landscape at two very different speeds. On one hand, the global server market has surged to unprecedented levels, driven by massive purchases of accelerated AI systems by hyperscalers and large cloud providers. On the other hand, enterprise external storage— a much more mature and less flashy segment— has also rebounded, supported by postponed infrastructure upgrades and sustained adoption of flash architectures. IDC summarizes this picture with two clear headlines: the global external storage market closed 2025 with a 3.9% growth, while the server market ended the year at a historic high of $444.1 billion.
The differing paces of these markets aren’t surprising. IDC presents storage as a business that advanced in a “solid” manner, but clearly overshadowed by double-digit growth in servers. Still, the storage behavior warrants attention because it indicates that many companies are resuming investments they had postponed, doing so amid price pressures, increased efficiency needs, and growing demands to support modern workloads, including AI and advanced analytics.
Storage grows less, but is starting to move again
According to IDC data provided for the fourth quarter of 2025, the global market for OEM external enterprise storage systems reached $9.683 billion in revenue for manufacturers, a 5.5% increase over the previous year. For the full year 2025, the sector closed at $33 billion, representing IDC’s particularly noteworthy 3.9% year-over-year growth for such a mature segment.
Within this market, All-Flash Arrays continued to be the most dynamic, with an 18.1% year-over-year revenue increase. Notably, HDD-based arrays also grew by 3.1%, which is unusual after years of weakness, while hybrid systems fell by 6.7%. The takeaway is quite clear: flash still captures most of the value when companies prioritize performance, but cost pressures and component volatility—such as SSD, HDD, and DRAM—are prompting some of the market to revisit more conservative configurations to contain budgets.
IDC also highlights that mid-range systems, priced between $25,000 and $250,000, saw the strongest quarterly growth, up 8.5% and accounting for 66% of the total market. High-end systems also increased by 5.4%, while entry-level systems declined by 6.9%. This is an interesting sign, suggesting that investment is flowing mostly into consolidation and serious infrastructure upgrades rather than small or tactical purchases.
Another relevant point is the price per capacity. IDC notes that component shortages have kept storage values high, with the proportional value per gigabyte rising by 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Even in a market accustomed to continuous cost improvements, supply chain tensions are still disrupting normality.
Dell leads in storage, but the market remains highly fragmented
In external storage, Dell Technologies finished Q4 2025 as the leader with a 23.7% share and $2.293 billion in revenue. Huawei was second with 12.6%, followed by NetApp with 8.1%, Everpure with 7.1%, and IBM with 6.3%. The rest of the market held a very high share of 42.1%, indicating that despite the dominance of a few major names, the industry remains quite fragmented.
This distribution also reflects two different realities. On one side, Dell maintains a very strong position in traditional enterprise storage. On the other, manufacturers like NetApp continue to capitalize on flash momentum, while Huawei leverages its domestic strength. Overall, the market isn’t experiencing a disruption as dramatic as the one seen in AI-specific servers, but it is in a transition phase where flash, operational efficiency, and cost rationalization are influencing decision-making.
Servers enter a new dimension thanks to AI
If storage has rebounded, the server market has skyrocketed. IDC estimates global revenues for Q4 2025 at $125.297 billion, a 52.4% increase from the same period last year. For the full year 2025, the market hit a record of $444.1 billion, fueled by the accelerated deployment of AI-optimized infrastructure.
The message here is much more definitive. IDC states that servers with integrated GPUs grew by 59.1% year-over-year in Q4, now accounting for more than half of total market revenue. This may be the key data point explaining the current moment: servers are no longer just growing through generalist refreshes or traditional data center modernization, but predominantly via bulk purchases of accelerated systems designed for AI training and inference.
The architectural details are also notable. x86 servers grew by 16.9% reaching $69.8 billion in the quarter, while non-x86 systems surged by 146.4% to $55.5 billion. This indicates a clear rise in specialized, accelerated platforms, increasingly tied to designs from hyperscalers, ODMs, and major cloud providers.
IDC summarizes this as a demand-driven expansion for AI infrastructure. Hyperscalers and cloud providers continue leading investment, while the traditional on-premise segment remains more cautious. In other words, the market explosion isn’t uniform: it is primarily driven by the giants building the new AI compute capacity at scale.
The growing power of ODMs and the new market balance
In servers, leadership also reflects this shift. Dell Technologies and Supermicro finished in a close tie at the top, with nearly 10% and 9.3% shares respectively. Next are IEIT Systems, Lenovo, and HPE, but perhaps the most significant figure isn’t in the top five — it’s the ODM Direct segment, which captured 53.2% of quarterly revenue. This confirms that the demand from large cloud and AI providers is increasingly directing the market toward manufacturers who work directly for them.
IDC’s conclusion is quite clear. The server industry is experiencing a historic expansion driven by AI, while storage grows at a more moderate but steady pace, supported by infrastructure refreshes and the transition toward flash. Both markets are progressing, but not at the same rate or for the same reasons. The former is in a feverish phase of accelerated investment, while the latter advances more cautiously, focusing on costs, efficiency, and balancing hardware, software, management, and as-a-service models in 2026.
FAQs
How much did the global external enterprise storage market grow in 2025?
IDC estimates an annual growth of 3.9%, with record revenues of $33 billion for the entire year of 2025.
Which storage segment experienced the most growth?
All-Flash Arrays were the most dynamic category, with an 18.1% year-over-year increase in Q4 2025.
How much did the global server market move in 2025?
IDC values the server market at $444.1 billion in 2025, the highest level recorded so far.
What is driving server growth?
Mainly the expansion of AI, especially servers with integrated GPUs, which grew 59.1% in Q4 and now account for more than half of total market revenue.
via: IDC