Aliso Viejo-based QLogic Corp. gained a notch on rival Emulex Corp. of Costa Mesa in third-quarter sales of host bus adapters.
QLogic held 44.1% of host bus adapter sales in the third quarter, according to market tracker Dell’Oro Group in Redwood Shores. That was up from 43.3% in the prior quarter.
Emulex slipped a notch in the third quarter, according to Dell’Oro. It came in at 41.9% of the market, down from 42.4% in the prior quarter.
The companies dominate the market for host bus adapters, circuit boards that link computers on data storage networks.
Earlier this month, an analyst gave QLogic the edge in fourth-quarter sales of host bus adapters.
Kaufman Bros. analyst Shebly Seyrafi told the Associated Press that his research showed “strong growth for both Emulex and QLogic in the fourth quarter, with QLogic slightly outgrowing Emulex.”
Still, the rivarly between QLogic and Emulex is alive and well, according to the analyst.
Emulex has won business from Sun Microsystems Inc. and “can take away business from one of QLogic’s larger customers,” he said.
Sun makes up about 15% of QLogic’s sales.
Both companies could see gains with new servers from IBM Corp., said Tam Dell’Oro, founder of Dell’Oro Group.
Emulex spun off QLogic in the early 1990s.
In other news, Emulex said Monday it signed a multiyear pact with Santa Ana-based Ingram Micro Inc., the tech industry’s largest distributor. Ingram is set to offer Emulex adapters along with servers from companies such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard Co.
