According to IDC, 28,385 thin client devices were sold in 2002, up 54 percent from 2001, a figure that is dwarfed by the 95 percent increase in up-take in the wider Asia-Pacific region.
A low total cost of ownership of thin clients, security benefits, ease of manageability, and key add-ons offered by particular vendors only add to the increasing uptake by local companies, said IDC research director Joel Martin.
Wyse topped the sales statistics, with a 69.8 percent market shre. Hewlett Packard only recorded a quarter of that figure, but still managed to come in second.
Sun finished third and Neoware in fourth.
IDC says the Y2K replacement cycle is swinging into full force, and expects a thin client compound annual growth rate of 23.9 percent over the next year.
I looked for thin clients prior to beginning a current upgrade at work, but there just didn't seem to be any out there that satisfied our requirements:
X11 based thin client, not a winterm
Basic, affordable variant, no flashy features needed
All the X11 capable ones seemed to be aimed at the top end, not the low end. As a result, we ended up doing thin clients from silent, diskless DEC P100s - and it works a treat.