Carrier router and switch market down 14.7 in 1Q11

CALIFORNIA, USA: The global service provider router and switch market, including IP edge routers, core routers, and carrier Ethernet switches, totaled $3.2 billion in 1Q11, down 14.7 per cent from the previous quarter, however, 10.4 per cent from the year-ago quarter, finds market research firm Infonetics Research in its latest report.

"Although carrier router and switch revenue was down sequentially in Q1 (as it usually is in the first quarter), the market is up year-over-year, and the last three quarters represent the three all-time highest-revenue quarters ever, a good sign that the market is back on track," notes Michael Howard, co-founder and principal analyst, carrier networks, Infonetics Research.

In the IP edge router and carrier Ethernet switch market (the "IP edge market"), which represents about 3/4 of the total market Cisco gained 1.3 revenue share percentage points sequentially in 1Q11 to 34.6 per cent, and is down 8.5 percentage points year-over-year.

Alcatel-Lucent dropped a few percentage points in 1Q11, maintaining second position; they are up 3.1 percentage points year-over-year, adds the report.

Juniper's revenue is up both quarter-over-quarter (+2.5 points) and year-over-year (+3 points), and holds the #3 spot. Huawei is down a couple points sequentially and up a tad year-over-year.