Carrier Ethernet Switch/Router Revenues Triple in 2005, With $1 Billion in Global Sales Likely This Year

Global CESR sales soared 221% in 2005, fueled by telco initiatives to expand carrier-class Ethernet service portfolios, according to Heavy Reading

PRNewswire
NEW YORK
Feb 17, 2006

Worldwide sales of carrier Ethernet switch/routers rose 17 percent quarter-over-quarter in the fourth quarter of 2005, capping a year of extraordinary growth that saw global revenues more than triple to $637 million for the year, according to the Carrier Ethernet Switch/Router Quarterly Market Tracker service published by Heavy Reading (http://www.heavyreading.com/), a leading telecommunications market research firm.

"2005 turned out to be a phenomenal year for the carrier Ethernet switch/router (CESR) market, as service providers worldwide increasingly embraced Ethernet as a critical element of network convergence," said Senior Analyst Stan Hubbard, author of the CESR Quarterly Market Tracker. "Countless data points indicate that carrier Ethernet is rapidly becoming the technology of choice for network access, metro transport, and traffic aggregation -- and the CESR products sit at the heart of this network transformation."

Heavy Reading projects that global CESR revenues will break the $1 billion mark in 2006, based on reports of surging carrier Ethernet RFPs and network build activity, primarily related to enterprise Ethernet services and residential triple-play, IPTV, and video-on-demand services. The research firm expects the CESR market to reach $2.2 billion in annual revenue in 2008.

Market leaders Cisco Systems and Alcatel continue to use their sales and marketing muscle and broad product portfolios to take charge of the increasingly crowded market in 2005. Cisco boosted its market share by several points in the fourth quarter and ended the year with a solid lead. Alcatel reported strong sequential revenue growth that solidified its position as the No. 2 CESR vendor.

Other vendors with significant market share in the fourth quarter and full year 2005 include Riverstone Networks, Atrica, Nortel Networks, and Siemens. Riverstone's position in the CESR market is expected to be assumed by Lucent Technologies, pending that company's proposed purchase of Riverstone's assets. That deal is expected to close later this year.

Heavy Reading's Carrier Ethernet Switch/Router Quarterly Market Tracker delivers a complete accounting of telecom equipment manufacturer revenues in CESR sector, including quarter-by-quarter revenue and market-share breakouts for each supplier, revenues by geographic region, and revenue projections through 2008 by region and by application type. The quarterly tracking service also analyzes each vendor's market strategy and identifies and analyzes customer wins, providing granular insight into this emerging market sector unavailable from any other source.

Equipment vendors analyzed include Alcatel, ANDA Networks, Atrica, Ciena, Cisco, Ericsson, Extreme Networks, Foundry Networks, Lucent, MRV Communications, Nortel, Riverstone, Siemens, and World Wide Packets.

The Carrier Ethernet Switch/Router Quarterly Market Tracker is distributed in PowerPoint and Excel formats. Reports may be purchased individually or as part of an annual subscription.

For more information about this product, contact:

  Dave Williams
  Sales Director, Heavy Reading
  858-485-8870
  dave.williams@heavyreading.com

  Press/analyst contact:
  Dennis Mendyk
  Managing Director, Heavy Reading
  201-587-2154
  mendyk@heavyreading.com

  About Heavy Reading

Heavy Reading is an independent market research organization offering quantitative analysis of telecom technology to service providers, vendors, and investors. Its mandate is to provide the comprehensive competitive analysis needed today for the deployment of profitable networks based on next-generation hardware and software.

About Light Reading

Light Reading Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of CMP Media, is a B-to-B network information provider. Light Reading publishes http://www.lightreading.com/, the leading global content site for the telecom industry; http://www.byteandswitch.com/, a storage networking site; and http://www.unstrung.com/, dedicated to wireless networking. Light Reading is also affiliated with http://www.heavyreading.com/, a market research site for quantitative analysis of telecom technology to carriers, service providers, and vendors.

About CMP Media

Through its market-leading portfolio of trusted information brands in the technology, healthcare, and lifestyles industries, CMP Media (http://www.cmp.com/) has earned the confidence of more professionals and enthusiasts in these fields than any other media company. As a result, CMP is the premier provider of access, insight, and actionable programs designed to connect sellers and buyers in each of these industries in ways that yield superior return on investment. CMP Media is a subsidiary of United Business Media (http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/), a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $3 billion.

SOURCE: Heavy Reading

CONTACT: Dave Williams, Sales Director, +1-858-485-8870,
dave.williams@heavyreading.com, or Press/analyst: Dennis Mendyk, Managing
Director, +1-201-587-2154, mendyk@heavyreading.com, both of Heavy Reading

Web site: http://www.heavyreading.com/
http://www.lightreading.com/