North American CMTS Ports Grow 94%

According to Infonetics Research's "CMTS and Edge QAM Hardware and Subscribers" report, cable ended 2011 on a high note, both for the quarter and the year and both for revenue and port shipments. North American MSOs are continuing their network rollouts, resulting in 94% total CMTS port growth in the region in 2011. According to the report, every region worldwide saw port growth in 2011, as cable operators continue deploying DOCSIS 3.0.Other highlights from the report:

• Combined CMTS and edge QAM revenue grew 5% in the final quarter of 2011, ending the year up 17% from the year-ago quarter.



• For the full year, CMTS and edge QAM manufacturer revenue is up 6% to $1.7 billion.



• Global CMTS port shipments hit record levels in 4Q11 and are up 48% for the full year.



• CMTS revenue is not keeping pace with port shipments because revenue per downstream continues to drop (down 31% in 2011), as more high-density downstream-only cards are introduced and as the market continues to shift toward license-based upgrades in regions outside North America.



• Cisco is the only one of the four CMTS equipment leaders that gained CMTS revenue market share in 2011, growing from 51% to 59% of the global market, just one point shy of its all-time high.