Gartner Says Worldwide Relational Database Market Grew 10 Percent in 2004.

STAMFORD, Conn. -- Sixth graph, third sentence of release should read: Oracle was the clear market leader in this space, as it accounted for 80.5 percent of new license sales. (sted: Oracle was the clear market leader in this space, as it accounted for 69.1 percent of new license sales.)

The corrected release reads:

GARTNER SAYS WORLDWIDE RELATIONAL DATABASE MARKET GREW 10 PERCENT IN 2004

Worldwide relational database management systems (RDBMS) new license sales totaled $7.8 billion in 2004, a 10.3 percent increase from 2003 revenue, according to Gartner, Inc.

IBM and Oracle were in a virtual tie for the top position based on new license revenue (see Table 1). Gartner analysts said the difference between the two vendors was less than $30 million, so statistically it is too close to identify a clear leader.

"Much of IBM's growth was generated by its DB2 on the zSeries platform, and IBM's DB2 sales on the Unix platform performed well with nearly 9 percent growth," Colleen Graham, principal analyst at Gartner. "Oracle saw strong growth of nearly 15 percent, much of it coming from its performance on the Linux platform."

Worldwide Vendor Revenue From RDBMS Software in 2004, Based on New
License Sales

(Millions of Dollars)


Companies                                  2004           2003   2003-
                                           Market         Market 2004
                                  2004     Share   2003   Share Growth
                                 Revenue    (%)   Revenue  (%)   (%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
IBM Total                         2,664.9   34.1 2,518.8   35.5   5.8
     IBM                          2,554.0   32.7 2,384.2   33.6   7.1
     Informix Products              110.9    1.4   134.6    1.9 -17.6
Oracle                            2,636.0   33.7 2,299.3   32.4  14.6
Microsoft                         1,561.1   20.0 1,323.0   18.7  18.0
NCR Teradata                        230.0    2.9   196.3    2.8  17.2
Sybase                              178.0    2.3   177.2    2.5   0.5
Others                              517.1    6.6   545.4    7.7  -5.2
Total                             7,787.1  100.0 7,060.0  100.0  10.3
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Source: Gartner Dataquest (May 2005)

RDBMS on the Windows server platform totaled $3.1 billion in 2004, a 10 percent increase from 2003. Microsoft extended its lead in this segment, as it accounted for 50.9 percent of new license revenue.

RDBMS on the Unix platform declined 0.7 percent, however much of this decline was attributed to Oracle's strong performance in the Linux segment. Oracle accounted for 55.9 percent of RDBMS new license revenue.

The Linux RDBMS was still relatively small with new license revenue of $654.8 million in 2004, but this segment showed the largest growth rate. Linux RDBMS new license sales increased 118.4 percent from 2003 revenue of $299.8 million. Oracle was the clear market leader in this space, as it accounted for 80.5 percent of new license sales. Its revenue increased 154.8 percent.

Gartner defines RDBMS as a database management system that incorporates the relational data model, normally including a Structured Query Language (SQL) application programming interface. It is a DBMS in which the database is organized and accessed according to the relationships between data items. In a relational database, relationships between data items are expressed by means of tables. Interdependencies among these tables are expressed by data values rather than by pointers. This allows a high degree of data independence.

Additional information is available in the Gartner report "No Clear Winner in Overall RDBMS Market Share Race." The report provides top-level market share results for the RDBMS market in Windows, Unix and Linux platforms. The report is available on Gartner's Web site at http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?ref=g_search&id=481177

About Gartner

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT and ITB) is the leading provider of research and analysis on the global information technology industry. Gartner serves more than 10,000 clients, including chief information officers and other senior IT executives in corporations and government agencies, as well as technology companies and the investment community. The Company focuses on delivering objective, in-depth analysis and actionable advice to enable clients to make more informed business and technology decisions. The Company's businesses consist of Research and Events for IT professionals; Gartner Executive Programs, membership programs and peer networking services; and Gartner Consulting, customized engagements with a specific emphasis on outsourcing and IT management. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, and has over 3,900 associates, including more than 1,100 research analysts and consultants, in more than 75 locations worldwide. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.