No seasonal rebound in enterprise router sales says Infonetics

Sept. 9, 2014
Worldwide enterprise router revenue totaled $867 million in the second quarter 2014 (2Q14), just a 1% sequential gain in a quarter that typically sees a strong seasonal pickup, according to the latest market report from Infonetics Research. Without the seasonal rebound, enterprise router sales dipped 9% in 2Q14 from the year-ago quarter (2Q13).

Worldwide enterprise router revenue totaled $867 million in the second quarter 2014 (2Q14), just a 1% sequential gain in a quarter that typically sees a strong seasonal pickup, according to the latest market report from Infonetics Research. Without the seasonal rebound, enterprise router sales dipped 9% in 2Q14 from the year-ago quarter (2Q13), according to the market research firm.

"For the second quarter in a row, enterprise router sales disappointed, and revenue is now trending downward," said Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise networks and video at Infonetics Research. "Demand for routers is still strong, as indicated by rising unit shipments, but discount pressure, preferences for local and lower-cost vendors in China, and lower public sector sales drove down revenue."

As Machowinski indicated, the good news in 2Q14 was that unit shipments are still growing, up 6% year-over-year, the market research firm says. Demand for higher-performance routers was strong. High-end and mid range router unit shipments were up by double digits year-over-year, while branch office and low-end routers posted more muted growth.

Asia Pacific is once again the top-performing region for enterprise routers in 2Q14; while North American sales tumbled 19% year-over-year, and EMEA sales fell 11%.

U.S. vendor performance for enterprise routers was mostly down on a year-over-year basis in 2Q14, while Chinese vendors gained as preferences in China shift to local vendors Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. and ZTE Corp. (H: 0763.HK / A: 000063.SZ) as well as the H3C division of HP.

Infonetics 2Q14 Enterprise Routers report tracks high-end, mid-range, branch office, and low-end/SOHO router revenue and ports. The report provides worldwide and regional market size, vendor market share, forecasts through 2018, analysis, and trends for high-end, mid-range, branch office, and low-end/SOHO router revenue and ports.

For more information on large-scale switch/routers and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.