While the movement towards 64-bit computing seems to gain momentum, sales of 64-bit servers deserve better. Both Intel's and AMD's 64-bit chips could not beat Intel’s Xeon 32-bit offering in Q1 2004 in terms of sales.

So far about 6271 Intel Itanium microprocessors-based systems have been sold around the world in 2004; approximately about 31184-based machines powered by AMD Opteron microprocessors were supplied during the same timeframe amid unprecedented sales of Intel Xeon-based machines.

“The latest server data from Gartner shows that only 6281 Itanium boxes and 31184 Opteron boxes were shipped in the first quarter of this year. Together, Itanium and Opteron servers accounted for 37000 of the 1.6 million units moved in the period” according to Gartner, reported by The Register.

Intel Itanium sales accounted for about 1255 systems shipped in 2004. Intel’s Itanium 2 microprocessors are typically used for high-end servers or workstations. Sales of IA64 systems were above last year’s total of 1255 Itanium servers shipped. AMD’s Opteron processor accounted for $93 million in total Q1 2004 server revenue.

Along with higher unit sales, IA64 revenue also surged from $38 million to $282 according to Gartner and The Register, which puts the average sale price of an Intel Itanium server at about $4000 – a midrange box.

Sales of all servers accounted for about $11.8 billion.