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August 27, 2001 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) – Despite
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a general slowdown in other communication technology
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sectors, Voice over IP (VoIP) equipment sales continued
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their strong growth throughout the first half of 2001,
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according to reports by Synergy Research Group
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(synergyresearchgroup.com).
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In Q2 and 1H reports released by Synergy, growth for
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packet-based voice equipment outpaced other technology
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sectors.
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In the first half of 2001, VoIP equipment sales
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represented $784 million, an increase of over 40
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percent over the same period a year ago. Ranked in
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order with respective market shares, the top five
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equipment manufacturers contributing to this growth
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were:
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1. Cisco 40.6%
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2. Clarent 12.4%
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3. Sonus 12.3%
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4. 3Com 10.5%
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5. Lucent 2.9%
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Synergy attributes this strong performance, in the
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midst of a more volatile general market, to the
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revolutionary proposition that VoIP technology poses
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for the management of traditional voice calls, as well
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as the evolutionary nature of the technology’s
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deployment.
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In Q2 2001, sales of Enterprise VoIP equipment reached
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$203 million, rising 87 percent from the same quarter
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last year. Driving this growth is demand for LAN
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Telephony (also known as IP PBXs) which are displacing
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traditional PBX sales, as well as an increase in the
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number of enterprise equipment shipping with voice
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DSPs.
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Synergy tracks the LAN telephony market in two major
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segments: Enterprise Class (supporting over 100 IP
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phones) and Small Business Class (supporting under 100
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IP phones).
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In the service provider arena, VoIP continues to
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demonstrate sizeable opportunity. As carriers seek to
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build out more cost effective and flexible networks,
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the equipment markets for VoIP Gateways, Soft
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Switches, SS7 IP Gateways and ICD Gateways will stay
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consistent with their proven growth trends.
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Sales for this equipment segment were $196 million in
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Q2 2001 and voice port shipments grew to 1.2 million
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ports up 81 percent from the prior period.
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In the quarter, the top five manufacturers for Service
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Provider VoIP revenues, ranked in order with
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respective market shares, were:
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1. Sonus 25.2%
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2. Clarent 22.6%
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3. Cisco 21.5%
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4. 3Com 9.3%
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5. Lucent 5.8%
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The top three players all remained within five market
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share points of each other, exemplifying the extreme
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competitive nature of this market. Synergy believes
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this pressure will intensify, especially given the
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reduction of CLECs from the year ago period, as well
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as increased competition from an emerging base of new
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competitors in this market.
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Moving into the second half of 2001, Synergy Research
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Group expects to see consistency in the Voice over IP
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markets with stable growth as major players in the
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market continue to aggressively compete, hone their
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survival skills and seek market dominance in a market
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which Synergy expects to exceed $1.5 billion by year end.