Continuing strength in the demand for fiber to the home customer premises equipment (FTTH CPE) drove a trend-busting increase in the overall broadband CPE market during the first quarter of 2011. Market research firm Infonetics Research released the numbers earlier this week within its first quarter 2011 Broadband CPE and Subscribers: PON, FTTH, Cable, and DSL market forecast and vendor market share report.
The report tracks DSL, cable broadband, FTTH, and voice CPE, residential gateways, and broadband subscribers.
"Worldwide CPE unit shipments were up 3% in the first quarter, which is normally down after a strong fourth quarter when consumers upgrade CPE during the holidays. There was growth in DOCSIS 3.0 cable CPE, indicating cable companies are finally seeing growth in higher-end DOCSIS 3.0 subscriptions. FTTH CPE continues to grow, particularly in Asia Pacific and EMEA, driven by growth in Japan, China, and the Middle East," notes Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for broadband access at Infonetics Research.
Highlights of 1Q11 Infonetics reported include:
- Pace ranked first in overall broadband CPE revenue in 1Q11, beating out Huawei by just over 1 percentage point. Huawei remained the leader in total unit shipments, however.
- Year-on-year worldwide revenue grew for all categories, with DSL CPE up 12%, broadband cable CPE up 25%, and FTTH CPE up 46%.
- Quarter-over-quarter (1Q11 vs. 4Q10), worldwide revenue was up 26% for cable wideband gateways (following a 53% jump in 4Q10), up 57% for 1.25-Gbps and 2.5-Gbps FTTH EPON ONTs, and up 12% for VDSL IADs.
Despite broadband subscriber saturation in some markets in North America and Western Europe, the overall broadband CPE market is relatively strong due to healthy broadband subscriber growth in other regions and several transitions now occurring in each segment of the market. For example, Infonetics cited the transition away from bridged ONTs to integrated ONT residential gateways, designed typically for in-home FTTH deployments, as a growth driver within the FTTH CPE space.
For more on FTTH equipment and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyers Guide.