According to a new study by RHK, the North American xDSL market declined 44 percent to $729 million in the first half of 2001. Alcatel once again captured the lead position with a 49 percent share, up from 47 percent in 2000. Lucent followed with a 19 percent share, up from 13 percent last year, while Cisco held its 2000 share of 15 percent. The $729 million in revenue represents a 6 percent decrease from $778 million in 1H00 and a 44 percent drop from the $1.3 billion market of 2H00.
"We predicted this decline in the DSL market when, last February, we reported high levels of excess equipment inventory," remarks Ken Twist, Senior Analyst for Broadband Access at RHK. "Slowing DSL subscriber growth rates this year have had an additional impact on this segment."
In the new report, RHK defines the xDSL market to include ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line), SDSL (single-digital subscriber line) and G.shdsl (global standard high-bit-rate digital subscriber line). Leading the overall market is ADSL, which accounts for 92.3 percent of total revenue while SDSL only comprises 7.2 percent of the market. RHK expects the SDSL fraction of the xDSL market to decline as CLECs and DLECs, the largest adopters of the technology, go out of business. G.shdsl, a new standard approved in February, held a mere .5 percent of the market in 1H01 and is not likely to grow significantly in 2002.
"We see G.shdsl eventually replacing SDSL as the symmetrical technology of choice," remarks Twist. "Despite its slow start due to the current market conditions, G.shdsl technology is attractive because of its spectral compatibility, improved overall reach, and improved performance in the presence of noise."
This report is available from RHK's Broadband Access: North America service, which provides ongoing, detailed analysis of the DSL market. This service researches key access vendors and service providers in North America, delivers market forecasts of access technologies, and provides analysis of the market and technology drivers influencing access networks.
About RHK:
RHK Inc. is a global industry market research and consulting firm specializing in the analysis of advanced technologies for the public telecommunications network. RHK's areas of expertise include: optical access, broadband access, and new voice infrastructure; switching and routing; optical transport and undersea; optical components and communications semiconductors; operations support systems; and newly emerging technologies. For more information, visit www.rhk.com.