According to ABI Research, worldwide shipments of broadband customer premises equipment (CPE) - including modems, fixed routers and residential gateways - are expected to reach 153.6 million by the end of 2015.
"Fiber-optic broadband CPE device shipments are expected to increase 12% in 2015, although DSL and cable CPE device markets are likely to see a slight decline in total shipments," wrote Jake Saunders, VP and practice director at ABI.
As operators continue to upgrade broadband networks, the rate of consumer migration to more advanced broadband platforms is increasing.
"The rapidly increasing fiber-optic broadband subscriber base is driving the growth in fiber-optic CPE shipments," wrote Khin Sandi Lynn, industry analyst. "Asia-Pacific accounts for more than 70% of fiber-optic CPE shipments for its fast fiber broadband net growth rate. A total of 22 million FTTH subscribers were added in 2014."
In 2015, DSL CPE shipments are expected to drop around 2% from 2014. The DSL broadband device market is expected to mainly be driven by the subscribers upgrading to higher speed platforms such as VDSL and G.fast in the years to come. In the cable CPE market, DOCSIS 3.0 accounts for approximately 90% of total shipments. Cable companies are now testing transmission of DOCSIS 3.1, which is designed to deliver up to 10 Gbps downstream speed. DOCSIS 3.1 devices are expected to enter the market in late 2016.