Data centers and carriers driving growth of Ethernet switch and PHY chip market

MOUNTAIN VIEW, USA: The Ethernet switch-chip market grew to a record $1.6 billion in 2011 according to The Linley Group's recently released "A Guide Ethernet Switch and PHY Chips" report. This eighth edition report analyzes more than 15 vendors and provides strategic analysis, detailed product descriptions, design examples, a roadmap of future products where available, and head-to-head product comparisons.

Notable findings in the report include:
* Although GbE provides the vast majority of switch-chip revenue, 10GbE is growing rapidly. Merchant switch-port shipments doubled in 2011, driven by increasing use of 10GbE top-of-rack (ToR) switches and blade-server fabrics.
* Merchant 10GbE switch-port shipments will grow at an impressive CAGR of 38.6 percent through 2015. Growth accelerators for 10GbE switches include a server-upgrade cycle driven by Intel's upcoming Romley platform, a transition from ASIC-based switches to ASSP-based switches, and growth in cloud data centers.
* Shipments of 10GBase-T copper PHYs will reach millions of ports in 2012 and then grow rapidly through 2015.
* Carrier Ethernet is the biggest growth driver for GbE switch-chip shipments, while the lengthy transition of enterprises from FE to GbE also contributes to growth.