The top five database software makers kept their market share rankings in 2004, with Oracle retaining the top slot, but Microsoft saw the fastest growth from 2003, industry researcher IDC said yesterday.
IDC said Oracle, long the industry leader, had a 41.3% share of the so-called relational database market, based on preliminary 2004 revenue data, with 14.5% growth from 2003.
IDC said the market grew by 12% in 2004 to $15 billion, after rising 6% in 2003.
Microsoft, the world`s biggest software company, retained its number three position with 13.4% of the market, and saw 22% growth from 2003 to 2004.
IBM remained number two with 30.6% of the market, and 8% growth from 2003, IDC said.
The research group said 2004 database deployments probably grew faster than revenues, citing "strong downward price pressure caused by tight competition among the big three vendors and a little bit by the presence of open source" database products.
IDC said the US dollar`s weakness, especially relative to the euro, resulted in higher incomes for US companies in dollar terms that were "far less spectacular in local currency".
Looking ahead, IDC said it expected Oracle and IBM to aggressively try to take market share from Microsoft in the sector that caters to small and medium businesses.
IDC said all three companies will also face continued competitive pressures from open source database products, such as Linux.
MySQL, another database program that can be copied and modified freely, competes with Oracle as well as Microsoft`s SQL database program.
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