Ethernet Switch Market Grows To USD 6.7 Bn 2Q18

Demand of 100 Gigabit Ethernet is continuing to help move the global Ethernet switch market forward, according to International Data Corporation (IDC).

IDC released its second quarter 2018 Quarterly Ethernet Switch Tracker, reporting $6.7 billion in revenues for the global Ethernet switch market, for a 4.8 percent year-over-year gain.

Demand is not the same all around the world, with revenues in the U.S. down by 1.6 percent for the quarter. By contrast, in China Ethernet switch revenues grew by 26.4 percent.

There is also a mix in speeds across different Ethernet switch ports, with 100 Gigabit Ethernet on the upswing. According to IDC, 100 GbE now represents 13.2 percent of total market revenue, coming in at $893.5 million for the quarter. During 2Q18, IDC reported that 2.8 million 100 GbE switch ports were shipped by vendors. Also, 25GbE is on the rise with 2Q18 revenue of $197 million on 2.0 million ports shipped.

However, 40 GbE is going the other way with revenues down by 13.5 percent, even as port shipments grew by 2.1 percent. The same trajectory and cost pressures are at play with 10 GbE as well, with port shipments up by 22.8 percent and revenues down by 5.2 percent.

In addition, 1 GbE is still growingfor campus and branch deployments and represents 66.6 percent of all ports shipped, with 109.9 ports in 2Q18. Revenue for 1 GbE was also up marginally, by 1.4 percent.

Vendors

Cisco continues to dominate the global switching market, with 50.1 percent market share of 2Q18 revenues, even though Cisco’s own switch revenue declined by 3.9 percent.

Arista Networks, on the other hand, grew its revenues by 25.7 percent, though that was still only good enough for a 6.6 percent market share. Arista’s growth is largely powered by 100 GbE, which represents nearly 60 percent of Arista’s switch revenue.

“Dynamics in the Ethernet switching market continue to shift as enterprise and service providers are demanding higher-speed Ethernet switch products,” stated Rohit Mehra, vice president, Network Infrastructure, at IDC. “While different regions are at varying stages of maturity, the market is clearly looking to capitalize on new equipment, which is helping to drive vendor revenue growth.” – Enterprise Networking Planet