India's switch & router mkt up 7.24% at $226 mn: IDC

The ethernet switch and router market in India grew 7.24 per cent to over USD 226.4 million in the first quarter, indicating stronger demand ahead after seasonal lows and a slowdown, research firm IDC today said.
According to IDC, the ethernet switch, router and wireless LAN market (all combined) stood at about USD 226.4 million in Q1, 2014 compared to USD 211.1 million in Q1, 2013. It was at USD 177.7 million in the last quarter of 2013.
The Ethernet switch market grew by 9.9 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) basis but registered a decline of 9.8 per cent from Q1, 2013 on year-on-year (y-o-y).

"The router market for Q1 2014 in India outpaced the earlier quarters with 68.2 per cent q-o-q and 40.1 per cent y-o-y rise as a combination of optimism as well as deferred deals registered by some of the vendors in the market," IDC India said in a statement.
It added that the wireless LAN market in India witnessed a 17.6 per cent increase sequentially and 10.5 per cent y-o-y during Q1 2014.
"Despite the past trend of seasonal low in the last quarter of a year combined with the noticeable slow-down due to the elections, the numbers above show a relatively positive sentiment and have put the LAN and wireless LAN markets in India in a strong position for the upcoming quarters," it said.

The largest contribution to the ethernet switch and router market in India was made by enterprises, continuing the trend from the last few quarter whereas the service provider segment showed signs of revival with the highest growth rate in the recent quarters.

IDC said the wider acceptance of the "third platform" that represents the increasing popularity of social networking, mobility, big data and analytics and cloud among enterprises was the prime reason for the growth and future prospects in the market.
IDC India Research Manager (Enterprise) Gaurav Sharma said: "Inexorable data growth, strong competition and consumer demands are the major factors driving the growth of network market in India.

"With market-friendly policies and leapfrog disruptions like LTE rollouts, the market is expected to sail through the tough waters ahead," Sharma added.