E01¶


Research	R0045 — Prediction Verification
Run	2026-03-29
Query	Q001
Source	SRC01
Evidence	SRC01-E01
Type	Statistical

Sun held 68.5% of US Unix/RISC unit shipments in Q4 2001

URL: https://sparc.org/2002/sun-ships-two-out-of-three-unixrisc-systems-in-us/

Extract¶

According to Gartner Dataquest's Q4 2001 US Server Database Report, Sun captured 68.5 percent of the Unix/RISC unit shipments market in Q4 2001, with over 34,000 units shipped. This was more than double that of its nearest three competitors combined (HP, IBM, Compaq). Sun was described as the "number one leader in UNIX/RISC units and revenue by a wide margin."

Relevance to Hypotheses¶

Hypothesis	Relationship	Strength
H1	Supports	Directly confirms Sun's commanding Unix/RISC dominance in 2001 — the starting point of H1's narrative
H2	Supports	Confirms Sun's strong position, consistent with H2's claim of secure dominance
H3	Contradicts	Linux was not competing in the Unix/RISC segment directly in 2001, undermining H3's claim that Linux was already a serious competitor

Context¶

This data covers the Unix/RISC segment specifically (Sun SPARC, HP PA-RISC, IBM POWER, Compaq Alpha). Linux on Intel was tracked separately by IDC. The 68.5% figure represents Sun's peak dominance before the decline that began in 2002-2003.

Notes¶

The source (SPARC International) is a Sun-affiliated organization, so the data framing favors Sun. However, the underlying Gartner Dataquest data is reliable.