Infonetics Research releases 2Q11 Microwave Equipment vendor market share and forecast report
It tracks high- and low-capacity Ethernet, hybrid, and TDM microwave equipment used in backhaul, transport, and access networks. The report now includes analysis and forecasts of microwave equipment by spectrum frequency band, from 1 GigaHertz (GHz) to 59.9 GHz.
"Over the last 18 months, Huawei increased their quarterly microwave equipment revenue by over 90 per cent, which now puts them within about a point of market share from perennial leaders Ericsson and NEC as of the second quarter of 2011. Huawei’s most recent revenue surge firmly establishes them as the #3 microwave equipment player in the world.
Their success can largely be attributed to the considerable amount of higher-spectrum microwave gear they sell, particularly 23- and 38-GHz equipment, and to leveraging their contracts with their mobile RAN and optical equipment customers," observes Richard Webb, directing analyst for microwave at Infonetics Research.
Microwave highlights
The overall microwave equipment market edged up 2.4 per cent in 2Q11 over 1Q11, to $1.3bn worldwide, as price erosion across most microwave market segments ate into revenue gains in Ethernet and hybrid TDM/Ethernet microwave gear
As carriers seek to accommodate traffic growth on their 3G networks and prepare for 4G/LTE service launches, the need for enhanced mobile backhaul bandwidth will continue to drive the Ethernet microwave equipment market
In preparation for the expected need for denser on-the-street cell topologies in 4G networks, small cell backhaul solutions are already coming to the microwave equipment market, sporting all-outdoor 'zero footprint' lower power form factors
Microwave equipment vendors are emphasizing new higher-capacity products, with several vendors now claiming 1G+ capacity links
Between 2011 and 2012, global shipments of Ethernet microwave radio equipment are forecast to double, while TDM microwave gear will continue its inexorable decline, and the decline of hybrid TDM/Ethernet microwave gear will accelerate
Revenue from Ethernet microwave equipment surpassed that of TDM microwave in 2010, and is expected to overtake hybrid TDM/Ethernet microwave equipment by 2014
The sharpest growth in microwave equipment spending will come from North America between 2011 and 2015
Equipment in the spectrum clusters 4-7.99GHz, 8-11.99GHz, and 12-17.99GHz accounted for 82 per cent of microwave equipment revenue in CY10
