Cisco faces router rivals
Vendors expected to challenge Cisco's dominance of sector
Enterprises are set to benefit from a price war as other companies challenge Cisco's dominance of the standard and secure enterprise router equipment sector, analysts have predicted.
According to the Enterprise Routers quarterly worldwide market share and forecast report from Infonetics Research, global sales of standard and secure enterprise routers remained flat last year, with revenues of $4.3bn and unit shipments reaching 14.9 million.
Overall, the sector is expected to remain depressed, with flat to low annual revenue and unit growth expected through 2007.
"In a market this big, there are always a lot of opportunities, with certain segments taking off, as secure routers are now," said Neil Osipuk of Infonetics Research.
"Cisco's near-monopoly has enabled it to dictate prices, but vendors entering the market are likely to give end-users and channels the alternative they've been looking for."
John Pateman, network and telecoms sales manager at 3Com reseller Compusys, said new products from vendors like 3Com will tackle Cisco head on.
"It will mean a price war, and resellers are going to need to sell a lot of kit. It's going to be about focusing on services. That will be where the money is."