HP cuts Unix server prices

Mid-range moves in line with Sun, IBM

By Ashlee Vance in San Francisco • Get more from this author

Posted in Servers, 3rd April 2003 20:50 GMT

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HP has cut the prices on some systems in its Unix server line, as it battles to maintain supremacy in the mid-range market.

The price reductions come as a result of lower CPU, memory and supports costs. Customers should see HP's mid-range server systems drop in cost by close to 20 per cent on the rp8400, rp7410 and rp7405 servers.

The new prices follow similar reductions from Sun and IBM, but as we all know, mid-range servers sell for quite a bit less these days than any vendor's list entry on the Web.

HP also said it will no longer charge customers for factory configuration services for partitioning, custom component installs or custom software loads. The capacity-on-demand pricing scheme for buying processors as you need them is available now on the mid-range systems as well.

HP continues to hold the number one slot in Unix market share, according to the folk at IDC. However, the PA-RISC and Alpha mobs must be getting nervous about where to shop for the next upgrade.

There's still new Risc chips coming out of HP this year, including the dual core Mako for the PA-RISC users. Although, the message is clear from the top that HP would like its Risc friends to at least consider a move to Itanium. ®