Service provider router market decelerated sharply in Q3

REDWOOD CITY, USA: According to a newly published report by Dell'Oro Group, the trusted source for market information about the networking and telecommunications industries, worldwide demand for Service Provider Routers decelerated sharply in the third quarter of 2011 following six consecutive quarters of year-over-year expansion at double-digit rates.

Projected to approach $10 billion for the full year 2011, the Service Provider Routers grew just 3 percent in the third quarter. The report points to shifts in investment priorities and weak macroeconomic conditions, especially in North America and Europe, as key contributors to the market slowdown.

"We have seen a trend of Service Providers shifting investments from wireline to wireless infrastructure, which has led to reduced demand for routers," said Shin Umeda, VP at Dell'Oro Group. "Use of Service Provider Routers in wireless networks has increased significantly over the past two years, but wireline networks still account for more than 80 percent of deployments," added Umeda.

The top five Service Provider Router vendors for 3Q11, in ranking order were Cisco, Juniper, Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei, and Ericsson.