10G bit/sec router sales up 16% last quarter

Sales of ultra-high-end routers grew 16% to $286 million between the first and second quarters of 2001, according to a Dell'Oro Group report.

Ultra-high end routers are defined by Dell'Oro as OC-192 capable, 10G bit/sec routers with packet-based backplanes and a throughput capacity that can scale to hundreds of gigabits per second. They tend to be sold to carrier and service provider customers looking to improve internal network performance between Web servers, IP subnets and other traffic, said Dell'Oro. To a limited extent, they also sell to large enterprise users who want to improve the switching and routing performance of their corporate data centers, the group said.

The main reason for the sudden growth in the market was the availability of Cisco Systems Inc.'s delayed OC-192 product, the 12400 Series Internet Router, said Dell'Oro. Pent-up customer demand propelled sales, the group said.

Cisco says the later arrival of the 12400 Series router was due to the need to produce a quality product. "Our scope is not to launch products but whole solutions, and that takes a lot of development time," said Francisco Fuentes, marketing manager for Cisco's core routing products. "Old interfaces can be plugged straight into our new servers, which is key to our customers' investment protection."

Customers are therefore prepared to wait for the Cisco products, he said.

Cisco is confident that any market share lost to earlier products will be made up for by sales of a higher quality router, he said. "Timing is important but the key focus is quality."

The other principal products in this area are Avici Systems' Terabit Switch Router and Juniper Networks' M160 Internet Backbone Router, Dell'Oro's report said.

Dell'Oro, in Redwood City, Calif., is at www.delloro.com
Cisco, in San Jose, is at www.cisco.com

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.