Date: 17/04/2011

1G, 10G, 40G, 100G optical and Ethernet market to reach $52 billion in 2015

Market research firm Infonetics Research released its 1G/10G/40G/100G Networking Ports market size and forecast report, which tracks 1 Gigabit, 10 Gigabit, 40 Gigabit, and 100 Gigabit optical and Ethernet ports on enterprise and service provider equipment.

1G/10G/40G/100G Networking ports market highlights:

The number of 1G, 10G, 40G, and 100G network ports shipped on service provider and enterprise equipment in 2010 jumped 43% over the previous year, to 184 million, and manufacturer revenue grew 26%, to over $33 billion
Equipment manufacturer revenue from 1G, 10G, 40G, and 100G networking ports is forecast by Infonetics to grow to almost $52 billion in 2015, as enterprises and service providers continue to build out their network infrastructure to respond to growing levels of traffic
In 2010, high-speed ports (10G, 40G, 100G) represented only 3% of all ports sold by manufacturers, but made up 43% of the revenue
Higher-speed port technology is not only important for carrying the world's network traffic, but a critical source of revenue for equipment manufacturers

"There is a lot of excitement these days around 100G and 100GE, and whether or how soon 100G prices will cause 40G sales to decline. The truth is that we are at the start of a very long period where 100G and 100GE will be the major port player from 2015 through 2030, with bare beginnings of just several hundreds of 100GE ports on service provider routers shipped to date, and a few inter-city 100G WDM routes deployed. Already street pricing looks very competitive, and with a lot of 100G technology development in motion--more focused than 40G--we expect 100G pricing to get to 2X 40G pricing in the 2013 timeframe, which should be the turning point for 100G versus 40G in the service provider market," notes Michael Howard, principal analyst for carrier and data center networks and co-founder of Infonetics Research.

Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise networks and video at Infonetics Research and co-author of the report, adds: "The market for 1G-and-higher enterprise ports took a bit of a breather in 2009 during the recession, but came back full force in 2010. The enterprise 40G Ethernet port segment will be one of the most interesting to watch going forward, with the first shipments expected in 2011 followed by rapid growth, driven by data center deployments."