14 DAY TRIAL // ARM-based servers used to be a pipe dream, but just like Intel managed to work its way into the mobile market (even though phones are still outside its reach), ARM has made an incursion into the computer segment, that of efficient servers in particular.
That's the main asset of ARM-powered servers, now that 64-bit instruction support is no longer lacking.
Basically, the ARM technology is much more energy efficient than x86, and companies know it.
So, even though the worldwide shipments will reach only 20,000 this year (2013), the compound annual growth rate over the next three years will be so great that the 1 million mark will be broken in 2017.
More specifically, after a CAGR of 170%, there will be 1,06 million servers shipped in 2017. Support could waver or prove better than expected though, so the safer range is of 150% to 180%.