Technology market research firm Infonetics Research, now part of IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS), this week reported that service provider router and switch revenue totaled $14.6 billion worldwide in 2014, essentially flat over 2013 as SDN (software-defined networking) hesitation slowed spending.

“We’ve been talking about this for the past year and it’s still true: the enormity of the coming SDN-NFV transformation is making carriers more cautious with their spending,” said Michael Howard, senior research director for carrier networks at Infonetics Research, now part of IHS. “But this does not mean that router and switch spending will take a sizeable downturn. Rather, we look for the market to slowly climb to $17 billion in 2019, a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of just over 3 percent-unchanged from our previous forecasts.”

Infonetics’ fourth quarter 2014 (4Q14) and year-end Service Provider Routers and Switches report contains vendor market share, size and forecasts for the foundational network equipment-IP edge and core routers, vRouters and carrier Ethernet switches (CESs)-that enables voice, video and data communications. 

MORE CARRIER ROUTER AND SWITCH MARKET HIGHLIGHTS:
.    Worldwide service provider router and switch revenue was $3.8 billion in 4Q14, up 2 percent on a quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year basis
.    Sales in the core router segment dipped 5 percent in 2014 from the previous year as expected due to the volume of capacity already “in the ground”
.    Carriers in North America exercised caution in their router/switch spending in 2014, sending revenue down 7 percent from 2013
.    However, the other major geographical regions-EMEA, Asia Pacific and Latin America-were in positive territory in 2014
.    China came to the rescue of a flat 2014 Asian telecom economy with a double-digit increase over the previous year
.    On the whole in 2014 and 4Q14, the top 4 router and CES manufacturers-Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Huawei and Juniper-stayed in dominant positions, together taking 85 percent of revenue

CARRIER ROUTER / SWITCH REPORT SYNOPSIS:
Infonetics’ quarterly service provider router and switch report provides worldwide, regional, China and Japan market share, market size, forecasts through 2019, analysis and trends for IP edge and core routers, vRouters and carrier Ethernet switches. Vendors tracked: Alaxala, Alcatel-Lucent, Brocade, Ciena, Cisco, Coriant, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Huawei, Juniper, NEC, UTStarcom, ZTE, others.

To purchase the report, contact Infonetics: www.infonetics.com/contact.asp

A related report by Research & Markets is cautious on the outlook for network equipment: 

Network Transmission Market Analysis and Equipment Forecast: ROADMS, DWDM, Routers and Switches and the Impact of Net Neutrality

“Internet traffic is beginning to slow in growth rate, tending toward the low teens. With the lower growth rate of traffic, one will see lower investment growth following in transmission equipment, as the market will remain cautious after the rather recent bitter experiences. In addition, as the Report also shows that the specter of Net Neutrality hangs over the market, with the doubt it is creating causing even more caution as to investment and purchases.”

“This Report will then examine traffic on the network and, through analysis, show that traffic from four major sources (AAA lines, H-H lines, Mobile lines and International) is responsible for the vast preponderance of traffic and traffic growth. Forecasts will then be provided (thru 2020) for these classes of traffic and for the Internet as a whole.

Based on the information from the traffic forecasts, the uncertainty from regulation (Net Neutrality) and the capital investment plans and forecasts, the Report will then provide equipment sales forecasts (units and dollars) for ROADMs, DWDM, Routers, and Switches (all carrier class) thru 2020 for North America and for the World. Detailed descriptions of each type of equipment being forecast is also provided.”