Carrier Ethernet Routers, Switches See Solid Growth

By Charlene O'Hanlon

Carrier-grade routers and switches are once again a hot commodity as IT budgets begin to loosen and companies look to update their infrastructure, according to a recent survey by research firm Infonetics Research.

The firms latest look at the market, Service Provider Routers and Switches,” which includes IP edge routers, IP core routers, Carrier Ethernet switches and ATM switches, shows a definite market upswing in the market as a whole. Overall, the report noted, the market grew to $3.3 billion worldwide, a 5 percent increase in the third quarter over the second quarter.

The overall carrier router and switch market is up 21 percent year-over-year, based on third-quarter revenue, while the North American IP edge and core router market is up 41 percent year-over-year, according to the report.

North America is helping lead the telecom world out of the economic doldrums, with EMEA coming along quickly, as evidenced by the carrier router and switch market,” said Michael Howard, co-founder and principal analyst for carrier and data center networks at Infonetics Research. The third quarter bore good news, and we believe the fourth quarter will be even better.”

Howard noted that Cisco accounted for the largest part of the third-quarter revenue upswing, and Alcatel-Lucent added solid quarterly gains, both driven by IP edge router sales. Huawei and Juniper also posted carrier router gains in the third quarter, with revenue up in the single-digit percents, according to the report.

However, multiservice ATM switches continued their downward spiral, with the market declining 45 percent year-over-year.