Thin client sales taking off

Thin client sales rose by 90 per cent worldwide last year, according to research by IDC.

More than half of the US companies involved in the research - who had all shown previous interest in thin clients - said they had replaced PCs with the machines.

IDC reckoned the main reasons behind thin client purchases were reliability, ease of use and performance.

When asked what brand name first sprang to mind in the thin client category, most of the 175 respondents answered Citrix.

Wyse was the most frequently mentioned vendor, with Dell and Compaq also performing well.

"End users expect thin clients to be reliable, easy to use, and good performers," said Bruce Stephen, IDC Worldwide Personal Systems research VP. "In addition, they should allow access to Windows applications, be cost effective, easy to install, and secure."

"A strong message from our data is that vendors of thin clients need to pay attention to reliability." ®