Global Network Equipment Market Continues a Steady Growth

IDC research company registers stable upward dynamics in the global network equipment market as the sales of corporate and operator class switches and routers have increased in Q3 2022.

According to analysts, the revenue in the segment of switching equipment reached 10 billion dollars in July-September, which is 23.9% higher than last year. In the previous trimester, the global sales of switches increased by 14.6%, and the market rose by 17.4% as compared to the same period in 2021 for the total of nine months of 2022, IDC said.

Specialists note that a double-digit rise is observed both in the category of switches for data centers and non-datacenter equipment, which includes solutions for deployment on corporate campuses and branches of enterprises. In the past quarter, the revenue in the first direction rose by 25.6% year-on-year, and in the second one - by 21.7%. In addition, there was an increase in the number of ports supplied in both categories by 25.3% and 14.7%, respectively.

The analysis from a geographical point of view indicates an upward trajectory in most regions of the world. Switchboard sales rose by 24.8% in the Asia-Pacific region (APR), excluding Japan and the PRC. In China, growth figures showed an increase by 17.5%, while Japan is down by 1.8%. The US switchboard market showed a 29.5% increase in revenue, Canada - 16.7%, and Latin America - 46.1%. In Western Europe, sales increased by 25.8%, followed by the Middle East and Africa with a 23.5% increase, while the Central and Eastern European markets (which include Russia) showed a drop of 5.4%.

The IDC report also shows that the sales of routers for enterprises and communication and cloud service providers generated $4.1 billion in Q3, which is 5.6% up as compared to July and September of 2021. The operator segment accounted for 75.3% of revenue, while the corporate class routers provided the rest. Among the regions, the United States, Latin America and Western Europe showed a double-digit increase. At the same time, router sales fell in Asia-Pacific countries, excluding Japan and China (-7.7%), China (-4.4%), Central and Eastern Europe (-25.9%), the Middle East and Africa (-2.8%).

Cisco has traditionally become a leader among network equipment providers, with analysts estimating its share of switch and router markets at 43.8% and 37%, respectively. Huawei, Arista Networks, H3C, and HPE were next in the top 5.