March.29.2006 Overview of domestic PC server shipments for 2005 　According to the research report about domestic PC server shipments from January to December 2005, published by MM Research Institute, domestic PC server market expanded by 24.4% over the previous year to shipment of 509,900 units, supported mainly by increasing IT investment of private companies. Shipment value also increased to 215 billion yen by 19.4% over the previous year, exceeding 200 billion yen after 4 years since 2001. The main reasons for the increase are that 2-way models increased in the market and that unit prices of low-end models have bottomed out. The domestic PC server shipment for the first half, from January to June, showed a year-on-year increase of 26.5%, 246,000 units. For the second half, the shipment was up by 22.5%, 263,900 units. Both periods showed increases of over 20%. There are 2 major reasons for the growth; major telecommunication companies invested heavily on servers throughout the year, and, in the second half, investment of major and medium-sized companies in both manufacturing and distribution industries recovered gradually. 　The market in 2006 will continue to expand supported by increasing IT investment due to the anticipated economic recovery. User needs will also become more diversified in 2006. Therefore, MMRI estimates that the shipment for the first half of 2006 will increase by 11.8 %, 275,000 units, and for the second half it will increase by 13.7 %, 300,000 units. For the overall year of 2006, the shipment will increase by 12.8 %, 575,000 units, marking a record high. Currently, user companies are faced with critical issues such as securities for information leakage and Japanese version of SOX legislation in addition to general issues relating to the system investment. Thus, server manufacturers need to respond to more sophisticated needs such as robustness at a cheaper price and, or higher availability and easier operation management.