CALIFORNIA, USA: Worldwide cable modem termination system (CMTS) and edge quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) hardware revenue dropped 13 percent in 2Q09 from 1Q09.

This is according to communications market research firm Infonetics Research's second quarter (2Q09) edition of its CMTS and Edge QAM Hardware and Subscribers report.

Arris captured the No. 1 spot in the worldwide cable-modem termination system market in the second quarter of 2009 -- with 47 percent share in the period -- as Cisco Systems lost "significant" revenue share. Infonetics believes that Cisco will return next quarter to close the market share gap and resume its lead by the end of the year.

Jeff Heynen, directing analyst, broadband and video, Infonetics Research, said: “After the heavy investments that were made in CMTS and edge QAM equipment in 2008, when revenue was up a whopping 43 percent from 2007, there was almost no way 2009 would be an up year for the cable broadband market with or without a recession."

Due to the heavy focus on rolling out the first phase of DOCSIS 3.0 services, downstream port shipments increased nearly nine percent worldwide from 1Q09.

"As it is, broadband subscriber growth is slowing, and many of the CMTS ports that have shipped to major operators are in inventory, waiting to be deployed to the field. Although we see total ports and revenue increasing in the back half of the year, that growth won't be enough to salvage 2009," Heynen added.