| Study Period | 2019 - 2030 |
| Market Size (2025) | USD 5.33 Billion |
| Market Size (2030) | USD 7.14 Billion |
| CAGR (2025 - 2030) | 6.02 % |
| Fastest Growing Market | Asia Pacific |
| Largest Market | North America |
| Market Concentration | Low |
Major Players
*Disclaimer: Major Players sorted in no particular order |
Mainframe Market Analysis
The Mainframe Market size is estimated at USD 5.33 billion in 2025, and is expected to reach USD 7.14 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 6.02% during the forecast period (2025-2030).
- The global mainframe market is witnessing robust growth, fueled by the surging demand for high-performance computing and the imperative to handle vast data volumes. According to a 2024 survey of industry experts, about 61% of global infrastructure hardware decision-makers reported that their firms utilize mainframes. Furthermore, among these users, approximately 54% foresee an uptick in mainframe usage within the next two years.
- Sectors like finance, healthcare, and government are driving mainframe adoption, spurred by rising digital transactions and data processing needs. In critical industries, especially banking and insurance, many organizations remain loyal to legacy systems due to their proven robustness, reliability, and security.
- Businesses are melding mainframes with cutting-edge technologies, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML), to boost operational efficiency and agility. Thanks to advancements in cloud technologies, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) now find mainframe solutions more attainable, enabling them to harness powerful computing without hefty initial costs.
- A notable 71% of Fortune 500 companies utilize mainframes, predominantly favoring IBM Z systems. The industry has gravitated towards the dominant player, with IBM consistently bolstering its secure and scalable Z platform. Moreover, the rising trend of hybrid IT solutions, merging mainframe capabilities with cloud services, is unlocking fresh growth avenues in the market.
- However, the substantial upfront investment required for acquiring and maintaining mainframe systems can be a deterrent, particularly for smaller organizations. These costs span hardware, software, and the essential infrastructure for optimal operation.
- The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the pivotal role of mainframes in ensuring business continuity, especially for sectors like finance and healthcare that are heavily reliant on digital transactions. With mainframes managing roughly 90% of global credit card transactions, their importance in the digital economy is undeniable.
- The post-COVID scenario has reinforced the relevance of mainframes in critical sectors while also highlighting areas for improvement. As organizations navigate these challenges, the focus on modernization, hybrid solutions, and enhanced security will be essential for leveraging the full potential of mainframe technology.
Mainframe Market Trends
High Performance Computing to Drive the Market
- Mainframes excel in high-performance computing (HPC) applications, delivering the scalability, performance, and reliability essential for complex simulations and data analysis. As businesses increasingly rely on HPC for data insights, the demand for HPC is projected to rise, driven by competition for market share and economies of scale.
- The on-premise model is witnessing significant growth due to its ability to leverage the full capabilities of the HPC system without being hampered by connection issues. Furthermore, large-scale enterprises, which often have established storage and legacy systems, tend to favor on-premise HPC deployments, bolstering the market during the forecast period.
- Today's mainframes offer seamless scalability to handle expanding workloads without compromising performance. This feature is crucial for organizations with fluctuating demands, enabling them to adjust processors and memory as required. Designed for high availability, mainframes often showcase a mean time between failures (MTBF) spanning decades. Their redundant components guarantee uninterrupted operation, a necessity for mission-critical applications.
- Local mainframes can accommodate sudden or temporary capacity spikes, contingent on the equipment's currency. Managing a local mainframe necessitates robust backup and recovery facilities, including a dedicated server, storage, tape subsystem, and a backup generator at a secondary data center. Given the rising demand for high-performance computing, the market is poised for growth.
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North America is Expected to Hold a Major Share of the Market
- In North America, the demand for mainframes remains strong, underscoring their pivotal role across diverse industries. According to a 2023 PlanetMainframe survey, nearly 75% of business and IT leaders affirm the long-term relevance of mainframes in their organizations, with over 90% anticipating an expansion of their mainframe presence. This trend suggests that mainframes may grow even more pertinent in the coming years.
- For decades, mainframe computers have been foundational to the U.S.'s large-scale computing infrastructure. Renowned for their reliability, scalability, and security, these machines are vital for industries that demand high-performance computing.
- Recently, the U.S. mainframe market has undergone significant changes, spurred by technological innovations and a rising need to manage vast data volumes. Cloud HPC is rapidly gaining popularity across various sectors, with companies turning to it for enhanced storage performance, superior computing power, and heightened security.
- For example, in May 2023, IBM revealed that Cadence Design Systems, Inc. is harnessing IBM Cloud HPC's high-performance computing capabilities to expedite its chip and system design software development. By deploying the integrated IBM Spectrum LSF in a hybrid cloud HPC solution, Cadence can adeptly manage its compute-heavy tasks both in the cloud and on-premises, ensuring top-notch resiliency and performance.
- Moreover, Zippia reports that the U.S. boasts over 20,087 mainframe operators. These professionals are part of a broader landscape, with enterprise computing roles making up a significant portion of the nation's four million computer and IT jobs.
- In summary, the North American mainframe demand is set for sustained growth, underpinned by their essential role in mission-critical applications across sectors. As organizations pivot towards modernization and embrace new technologies, the mainframe market is poised to remain a cornerstone of the region's technological framework.
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Mainframe Industry Overview
The Mainframe market is highly competitive and fragmented, primarily driven by the presence of major players. These key players employ strategies such as mergers, acquisitions, and product innovations to maintain a competitive edge and broaden their global footprint. Key player include IBM Corporation, Unisys Corporation, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and others.
The mainframe market is evolving significantly to meet the growing demands of big data analytics, driven by technological advancements and the increasing volume of data generated across various industries. The emergence of MaaS (Mainframe as a Service) offers organizations access to mainframe capabilities through a cloud-based model, reducing the barriers associated with traditional mainframe ownership. This shift allows businesses to benefit from robust processing power without significant upfront investments.
Mainframe Market Leaders
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IBM Corporation
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Unisys Corporation
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Hewlett Packard Enterprise
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Fujitsu Limited
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Hitachi, Ltd.
- *Disclaimer: Major Players sorted in no particular order
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Mainframe Market News
- June 2024: Kyndryl, the world's largest IT infrastructure services provider, announced the establishment of its first Mainframe Modernization Center of Excellence (CoE) in Malaysia working with Amazon Web Services (AWS). The CoE will combine Kyndryl’s expertise and understanding of mission-critical mainframe systems with AWS’s ability to help enterprises update, modernize, and migrate their legacy mainframe applications to a cloud-native environment.
- May 2024: Cecabank, the leading bank in Securities Services in Spain and Portugal and provider of specialized solutions for all types of national and international financial institutions and corporations, and Kyndryl, the world’s largest IT infrastructure services provider, have signed a collaboration agreement for Kyndryl to provide maintenance and support for the modernization of the bank's mainframe environment.
Mainframe Industry Segmentation
A mainframe, also known as big iron, is a high-performance computer used for large-scale, compute-intensive purposes and tasks that require greater availability and security than smaller-scale machines.
The mainframe market is segmented by type (z systems, gs series, other types), by end users (bfsi, it and telecom, government and public sector, retail and e-commerce, healthcare, manufacturing, other end users), by geography (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa). The market sizes and forecasts are provided in terms of value (USD) for all the above segments.
| By Type | Z Systems |
| GS Series | |
| Other Types | |
| By End-users | BFSI |
| IT and Telecom | |
| Government and Public Sector | |
| Retail and E-commerce | |
| Healthcare | |
| Manufacturing | |
| Other End users | |
| By Geography*** | North America |
| Europe | |
| Asia | |
| Australia and New Zealand | |
| Latin America | |
| Middle East and Africa |
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Mainframe Market Research FAQs
How big is the Mainframe Market?
The Mainframe Market size is expected to reach USD 5.33 billion in 2025 and grow at a CAGR of 6.02% to reach USD 7.14 billion by 2030.
What is the current Mainframe Market size?
In 2025, the Mainframe Market size is expected to reach USD 5.33 billion.
Who are the key players in Mainframe Market?
IBM Corporation, Unisys Corporation, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Fujitsu Limited and Hitachi, Ltd. are the major companies operating in the Mainframe Market.
Which is the fastest growing region in Mainframe Market?
Asia Pacific is estimated to grow at the highest CAGR over the forecast period (2025-2030).
Which region has the biggest share in Mainframe Market?
In 2025, the North America accounts for the largest market share in Mainframe Market.
What years does this Mainframe Market cover, and what was the market size in 2024?
In 2024, the Mainframe Market size was estimated at USD 5.01 billion. The report covers the Mainframe Market historical market size for years: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The report also forecasts the Mainframe Market size for years: 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030.
Mainframe Industry Report
Statistics for the 2025 Mainframe market share, size and revenue growth rate, created by Mordor Intelligence™ Industry Reports. Mainframe analysis includes a market forecast outlook for 2025 to 2030 and historical overview. Get a sample of this industry analysis as a free report PDF download.
