Carrier VoIP market down 12 pc in 3Q11

CALIFORNIA, USA: The global service provider VoIP equipment market (trunk media gateways, SBCs, media servers, softswitches, voice application servers), lost the 12 per cent it gained in 2Q11 with a 12 per cent decline, to $441 million, finds market research firm Infonetics Research.

In its third quarter 2011 (3Q11) 'Service Provider VoIP Equipment and Subscribers' market share and forecast report, the researcher finds that the overall market is down 15 per cent year-over-year (from 3Q10 to 3Q11).

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Diane Myers, directing analyst for VoIP and IMS at Infonetics Research, said: "Seasonally the third quarter tends to be a weak one for the overall carrier VoIP equipment market, and 3Q11 was no exception. No vendor is immune to the challenges of delayed orders and shifts in technology choices, although there were some standout performances by vendors in 3Q11 in specific segments, including Dialogic, Genband, Huawei, Metaswitch, and Sonus."

In 3Q11, Huawei gained on Genband to take the lead in the overall service provider VoIP equipment market.

"Sequentially, all market segments are down in 3Q11, however, from the year-ago quarter (3Q10), there is one bright spot: session border controllers (SBCs), with global revenue up 13 per cent. The SBC and voice application controller segments are on track to be up in 2011, reflecting the continued shift to all-IP networks," expects Diane.

The growth of VoIP subscribers in fixed and mobile networks, SIP trunking, and IP interconnectivity will continue to be important drivers for VoIP equipment.

The stand-out region of the quarter is Central and Latin America, which posted a 14 per cent increase in carrier VoIP equipment revenue in 3Q11 over 2Q11, driven by strong VoIP adoption, particularly in Brazil and Mexico.