New research by Dell'Oro Group contends that "the Ethernet switch market is undergoing dramatic changes, as end users favor unique products purpose-built and optimized according to deployment location" -- i.e. whether in the data center, the enterprise (including campuses and branch offices), small and medium businesses (SMBs), or for Carrier Ethernet services.
Dell'Oro's latest analysis suggests that, as the data center migration towards 10 Gigabit Ethernet for server access ramps, existing and new vendors face opportunities, challenges and market share turbulence in these segments.
Related:Ethernet switch market posts record 2012
"Data center consolidation projects and an increase in cloud services are causing the data center segment to significantly outperform the overall Ethernet switch market," comments Alan Weckel, vice president at Dell'Oro Group. "This trend is causing vendors focused in the data center to gain overall market share compared to those focused in other segments."
Weckel continues, "At the same time, the increase in mobile devices is causing many enterprises and SMBs to invest more heavily in WLAN. While we haven't seen a negative impact yet, we believe over the next several years the Enterprise and SMB segments will plateau and then gradually decline in favor of wireless technologies, such as 802.11ac. The divergence in market segment performance will have more impact on vendor share and vendor product offerings over the next several years than we have experienced in the past decade," he adds.
The new report from Dell'Oro Group assesses the magnitude of the Ethernet switch market by location of deployment, tracking market evolution, assessing vendor strengths and weaknesses, and the drivers of growth behind a market that now exceeds $20 billion. The report also reveals how Cisco, Dell, D-Link, Hewlett-Packard, Huawei, IBM, Juniper, and Netgear place in the top four revenue-shares in 2012 for these segments.
To purchase the report, contact Julie Learmond-Criqui at +1.650.622.9400 x244 or email [email protected].
See also: What will 802.11ac mean for wireless testing?