Continued Strong Growth In Ethernet Switch, Router Mkts In 2Q10

In the second quarter of 2010 (2Q10), the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Enterprise Networks Tracker found year-over-year revenue growth of 32.7% in the Ethernet switching and 11.0% in the Ethernet routing markets worldwide, reflecting continued strong performance across all regions and key product segments.

“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, 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, virtualisation, and cloud computing.”

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 8.0% year-over-year gain. This segment continues to be soft and off by around 25% from the record levels seen in 2007 and 2008. Service provider router revenue now accounts for 73.9% of the router market and includes both core and edge routers.

From a vendor perspective, Cisco’s Ethernet switch market share increased to 65.8% in 2Q10 from 62.8% in 2Q09, but was down from 68.3% in the exceptionally strong 1Q10. Cisco performed on par with the Service Provider router market and now accounts for 46.1% 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.