According to a recent report by Dell'Oro Group, the trusted source for information about the telecommunications and networking industries, significant new Ethernet Switch product introductions should help propel market growth, especially over the next year, as products geared towards the datacenter begin to ramp in the second half of 2008 and the first half of 2009.
"We anticipate that the Ethernet Switch market will segment into more specialized products for different functional network areas," said Alan Weckel, senior analyst of Dell'Oro Group. "For example, products focused on the datacenter are evolving with features such as converged fabric that provide the ability to combine Ethernet and Fibre Channel. Meanwhile, products for the wiring closet continue to push convergence of VoIP and WLAN with features addressing PoE, QoS, and robust security and authentication," stated Weckel.
The report indicates that this divergence in products will make it difficult for vendors in the future to develop a product for one segment of the market and then modify it slightly to address another segment.
"We expect that some smaller vendors will be required to pick one area of specialization or to partner in order to offer a complete solution that covers the unique characteristics from the wiring closet edge to the datacenter core, indicated Weckel. "Brocade's announcement to purchase Foundry is an excellent example of two unique datacenter companies combining to address the opportunities of a converged fabric, added Weckel.
The Dell'Oro Group 5-Year Forecast Report offers a complete overview of the Ethernet Switch industry with tables covering manufacturers' revenue, average selling prices, and port shipments (by speed Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet) for Layers 2-3 (both managed and unmanaged), and Layers 4-7. To purchase this report, please contact Emily Kendall at +1.650.622.9400 x223 or email [email protected].