AUGUST 4, 2009 -- According to a recent report by Dell'Oro Group (search Lightwave for Dell'Oro Group), a market research firm focusing on the telecommunications and networking industries, the total Ethernet Switch market is forecast to decline almost 20% in 2009, the sharpest decline since 2001, before it begins to rebound in 2010. The report indicates that 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) and data center will be catalysts for growth during the next few years.
"Given the severity of the decline during the first quarter of 2009, it will be difficult for the market to rebound quickly to the revenue and port levels we saw in 2008," says Alan Weckel, director of Ethernet switch market research at Dell'Oro Group. "We believe that the data center will be one of the largest drivers for growth beyond 2009, as the market is expected to begin expanding again in 2010. However, it will be difficult for the market to return to the robust growth rates it enjoyed over the past five years," states Weckel.
The report indicates that Cisco's move into the server market, HP's expansion of its data center portfolio, and IBM's entrance into the Ethernet switch market are examples that some vendors will approach a more holistic product offering for the data center going forward.
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