economic dailyQuoting the DIGITIMES server research report, global server shipments in the third quarter of 2026 fell 0.8% from the previous quarter, but are expected to rebound to 4.89 million units in the fourth quarter, a quarterly increase of 5.5%. Although Taiwanese manufacturers' global shipment share has declined slightly, it is still as high as 88.9%. Among them, leading Quanta (2382) has benefited from the mass production of new Meta models, and its global shipment share is expected to rise significantly to 25%, significantly widening the gap with other Taiwanese OEMs.
Material shortage drags down server shipments in the third quarter: CPU, memory, and IC carrier boards are all in tight supply
DIGITIMES pointed out that global server shipments fell by 0.8% quarterly in the third quarter of 2026, which was lower than the quarterly growth originally expected by the market. The main reason is that the supply of key components such as CPU, memory and IC carrier board is tight, which limits the shipment momentum of the complete system.
From the perspective of customer structure, the overall purchasing volume of large American cloud service providers (CSPs) decreased by 1.3% quarter-to-quarter; due to limited supply of materials and parts, coupled with rising server prices, the decline of brand server manufacturers was deeper than that of large American cloud companies. In other words, the decline in shipments this quarter was mainly due to supply-side constraints rather than weakening demand.
Server shipments rebounded in the fourth quarter, and new Arm architecture models continued to grow.
Looking forward to the fourth quarter, the report estimates that global server shipments will reach 4.89 million units, a quarterly increase of 5.5%. However, GB300 NVL72 enters the product replacement period in the fourth quarter, Vera Rubin may face supply problems, and the shortage of x86 CPU, memory and IC carrier boards has not yet been resolved.
Nonetheless, as large U.S. cloud companies begin mass production of new models using Arm-based CPUs, overall procurement volume is still expected to increase by 13% quarter-to-quarter. In comparison, the performance of brand manufacturers is weak: affected by the generational change of AI server products and the shortage of general-purpose servers, the combined shipments of Dell, Supermicro and HPE are expected to decline by 6.5% quarterly.
DIGITIMES predicts that global server shipments will reach 18.95 million units in 2026, an increase of 14.2% from 2025 and a record high.
Meta returns to the purchasing throne, Dell and Microsoft's share declines
In terms of the shipment rankings of brands and cloud customers in the fourth quarter, the biggest variable is Meta. Thanks to the mass production of models using NVIDIA Grace CPU, Meta's shipment share is expected to rise sharply from 13.4% in the third quarter to 19%, surpassing Amazon, which originally ranked second, and regaining its leadership in server procurement.
For Google, TPU servers using its own Arm architecture CPU have also begun mass production, helping to maintain third place. Dell, ranked fourth, is expected to have a lower share than the previous quarter due to the suspension of AI server shipments by large customers; Microsoft, ranked fifth, has also seen its share tend to decline due to a simultaneous slowdown in procurement momentum for AI and general-purpose servers.
Taiwanese manufacturers account for 90% of shipments, and Quanta’s lead gap widens
Regarding the performance of Taiwanese manufacturers, the report predicts that server shipments of Taiwanese manufacturers will increase by 5.4% quarter-to-quarter in the fourth quarter, with the global share declining slightly to 88.9%. The shipment rankings of major Taiwanese OEMs are expected to remain unchanged, but the gap between leading Quanta and other players will significantly widen.
Quanta's growth momentum mainly comes from the mass production of new Meta models. With Meta returning to the procurement leadership, Quanta's share of global server shipments in the fourth quarter is expected to rise significantly to 25%.
Overall, the server market in the fourth quarter showed "supply constraints and structural reorganization": the shortage of x86 CPUs, memory and IC carrier boards has not yet been resolved, and new Arm architecture models have become the key for major cloud manufacturers to maintain procurement growth. For Taiwan's supply chain, nearly 90% of global shipments indicate a solid industry position, and Quanta is expected to reap the dividends brought about by the rebound in Meta procurement.
this article Taiwanese factories are working hard! The global AI server shipment market accounts for almost 90%, and "this major foundry" is the leader first appeared in Chain News ABMedia。
