* More Gig Ethernet than Fast Ethernet ports sold in modular switches
For the first time, shipments of modular Gigabit Ethernet switch ports exceeded those of modular Fast Ethernet ports, according to the latest figures from Dell’Oro Group.
The research firm says that despite a flat overall market in the fourth quarter of last year, sales of high-end modular Gigabit and 10 Gigabit switches were up; in the 10 Gig market alone, port shipments were up more than 70%, for the second quarter in a row.
The driving force is the price, Dell’Oro says. The average selling price for a modular port supporting Gigabit Ethernet is only twice as much as the price of a Fast Ethernet modular port, the firm says. Gigabit Ethernet over copper has become very popular in wiring closet switches. That, in turn, is driving demand for 10 Gigabit Ethernet as an aggregating technology.
In the fourth quarter, 3.4 million modular Gigabit Ethernet ports were shipped, up 7% from the previous quarter. Cisco had the largest share, with HP, Nortel, Enterasys Networks, Foundry Networks and Extreme Networks following, in descending order.
Foundry was quick to point out separately that Dell’Oro named it the market share leader in the specific market of 10 Gigabit Ethernet Layer 3 switches, both for the fourth quarter and for the full year of 2004.
Foundry gear accounted for 34.5% of the port shipments and 38.8% of the revenue. Last month, Foundry introduced a new family of modular 10 Gigabit products, the SuperX switches.
Dell’Oro said last month that a surge in popularity of 10 Gigabit is helping to fuel a comeback for Ethernet switching overall, and that we can expect the market to return to its pre-economic slowdown vigor this year.
