According to a new report by Dell’Oro Group, an analyst of the telecommunications, networks, and data center industries, more than $95 billion will be spent on campus switches over the next five years -- whereas multi-gigabit switches (2.5/5/10 Gbps) are expected to comprise only about 10 percent of port shipments by 2026.
Additional highlights from the analyst's Ethernet Switch – Campus 5-Year July 2022 Forecast Report include the following data points:
- Power-Over-Ethernet (PoE) ports are forecast to comprise nearly half of the total campus port shipments by 2026.
- China is expected to recover very quickly from its recent pandemic lockdown and comprise 25 percent of campus switch sales by 2026.
- The introduction of new software features and Artificial Intelligence capabilities are expected to increase over the forecast's timeframe.
- Interest in Network-As-a-Service (NaaS) offerings is expected to rise -- but the analyst warns that adoption may take time.
“Due to a number of unforeseen headwinds including lingering supply chain challenges, increased macro-economic uncertainties, higher inflation, and regional political conflict, we have lowered our forecast for 2022 and 2023 compared to our prior January report,” explained Sameh Boujelbene, Senior Director at Dell’Oro Group.
Boujelbene continued, “At the same time, while we made this downward adjustment to our short-term forecast, we have raised the forecast figures for the outer years as we believe spending over the five-year forecast period will not decline compared to our prior forecast, but rather shift from one year to the next, depending on the supply situation and macro environment. Our interviews with system and component vendors, as well as with some of the Value-Added Resellers (VARs) and System Integrators (SIs), revealed that the fundamental growth drivers remain in place and that there is a substantial technology debt urging customers to upgrade their networks in order to support their digital transformation initiatives."
Boujelbene concluded, “Nevertheless, while we have maintained our forecast for revenue as well as port shipments, we have changed our port speed mix and shifted some of the volumes from 2.5/5.0 Gbps to the benefit of 1 Gbps. This adjustment is the result of a combination of supply-and-demand-related issues as explained in our report."
The Dell’Oro Group Ethernet Switch – Campus 5-Year Forecast Report provides an overview of Ethernet switches built and optimized for deployment outside the data center, for the purpose of connecting users and things to the local area networks. The report contains tables covering manufacturers’ revenue, average selling prices, and port/unit shipments by speed (100 Mbps, 1/2.5/5/10/25/40/50/100/400 Gbps Ethernet), plus regional breakouts.
To purchase the report, contact [email protected].