Will Networking Vendors See Upturn Next Year?

Infonetics Research is now forecasting a recovery of the telecom/datacom equipment market in 2010.

Phew.

While the recession officially started in the US in 2008, Infonetics is now reporting that the telecom and datacom (networking) equipment vendors they track, hit global revenues of $150 billion in 2008. That represents a year over year growth rate of 8 percent. That growth wasn’t due to increased unit shipments, but rather the depreciation of the US dollar in relation to other currencies.

For 2008, Infonetics names Cisco as the overall global leader in telecom/datacom network equipment with Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson following.

“Though service provider capital expenditures are slightly decreasing in 2009 and 2010, spending is still on the rise for products that help carriers transform their networks,” Jeff Wilson, Infonetics Research’s Principal Analyst for Network Security said in a statement.

Wilson’s comments are similar to those that I’ve heard from the networking vendors themselves. Cisco continues to make money (at a slower pace) as consumer and enterprise demand for more bandwidth and connectivity grows.

Still 2009 is being forecast by Infonetics (currency and all) to be a down year for the market.

“We expect a mild contraction in the overall telecom and
datacom equipment market in 2009, and a recovery between 2010 and 2011,
followed by strong growth through 2013, when worldwide revenue will
reach $195 billion,” Wilson stated.

Makes sense to me and I would expect with all the government
stimulus funds in place by the end of the year, 2010 should be a better
year than 2009. Then again, unless employment picks up in the US and
elsewhere, I think we actually could see a longer downturn than what
Infonetics is forecasting. If there are no jobs, then where will the
money come from to pay for the networking gear?

Article courtesy of InternetNews.com.