Intel plans to be #2 to Compaq in European servers by the end of 1999. Chipzilla, as every schoolboy knows, doesn’t make computers, oh dearie me, no. It makes the bits that go inside the things and it's the OEMs that actually build systems. Except, that is, for the server market where the chip behemoth has been quietly selling almost-ready-to-run boxes to customers for ages. These systems include case, power supply, CPU and so on. Just stick in a hard disk, a graphics card and bung a badge on the outside and bingo - you’re a server supplier. Intel has always maintained that the thinking behind this is that building a server is a damned sight more complex than throwing together a desktop system and that servers require considerably more sophisticated cooling arrangements including lots of BIG fans and internal ducting to make sure the cool air reaches the vital organs. These Intel vanilla systems explain why many OEM Xeon systems bear an uncanny resemblance to each other – they’re all Intel inside, big time. Now, reliable sources close to Intel in Europe have revealed that Chipzilla is already in fourth place for server shipments in Europe thanks to growth in the region of more than 110 per cent since the beginning of 1998 – about five times the growth rate of the server market overall which moved Intel up from eighth place. At the moment, analysts estimate that Intel is shipping something in excess of 85,000 units a quarter, Dell manages 83,000, IBM 93,000, HP 100,000 and Compaq over 205,000. If Chipzilla meets its targets, those computers it doesn’t make should generate a cool $1 billion from Europe this year. Can it be long before Intel bites the bullet and starts selling its own systems to end users? Register Factoid #550 You can buy a PC with an Intel badge on already – the TeamStation videoconferencing system.