Ethernet switch, router markets grow: IDC

FRAMINGHAM, USA: Global Ethernet switching and routing markets continued to show strong performance across all regions and key product segments, finds International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Enterprise Networks Tracker's second quarter of 2010 (2Q10) survey.

Where, the Ethernet switching market grew 32.7 percent year-over-year, the routing market showed 11 percent growth in the same period.

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"The second quarter performance was very good, following on the heels of exceptional first quarter results for the Ethernet switch market," said Rohit Mehra, director, Enterprise Communications Infrastructure at IDC.

"As seen in previous years, the second calendar quarter builds on the performance of the first, which is what the market delivered, showing strong year-over-year growth from the slowdown the market witnessed in 2009. The continued adoption of PoE (Power over Ethernet) and gigabit Ethernet is also being helped by the underlying networking drivers — the growth of voice and video over IP applications, network-attached devices, virtualization, and cloud computing," continued Mehra.

IDC's update report found that the worldwide router market showed moderate strength in 2Q10. The enterprise router market was marginally lower compared to 1Q10, but had an eight percent year-over-year gain.

This segment continues to be soft and off by around 25 percent from the record levels seen in 2007 and 2008. Service provider router revenue now accounts for 73.9 percent of the router market and includes both core and edge routers.

"The continued market recovery in 2010 is very encouraging with all regions and market segments making a contribution," said Cindy Borovick, vice president, Enterprise Communications Infrastructure and Datacenter Networks.

"IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Enterprise Networks Tracker shows a strong 87.9 percent year-over-year increase in 10GbE switch revenue in 2Q10 and for the first time there were more than 1 million 10GbE ports shipped in the quarter. The 10Gb adoption was driven by datacenter, cloud, and campus buildouts."

From a vendor perspective, Cisco's Ethernet switch market share increased to 65.8 percent in 2Q10 from 62.8 percent in 2Q09, but was down from 68.3 percent in the exceptionally strong 1Q10. Cisco performed on par with the service provider router market and now accounts for 46.1 percent of service provider router revenue (same as in 2Q09).

IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Enterprise Networks Tracker provides global Ethernet switch coverage, including manufacturer revenue and port shipments by vendor, layer, speed, form factor, power over Ethernet (PoE) capabilities, and average pricing.

The router coverage shows manufacturing revenue and unit shipments by vendor, product class, deployment, connectivity, and average pricing. Ethernet switch and router market results are delivered in a pivot table seven weeks after the close of the calendar quarter.