Switch market mushrooms 30 per cent in 2010

But Dell‘Oro Group warns price erosion and increased competition will stunt growth in 2011

The switching market returned to double-digit growth last year with Juniper enjoying the strongest gains.

According to research by Dell'Oro Group, global revenue from L2-L3 switches jumped 30 per cent to $20bn, although the market watcher cautioned that sales will flatten out this year.

Juniper, which entered the Ethernet switch market three years ago, topped the pile in terms of 2010 growth, followed by Dell, Cisco and HP, according to Dell'Oro.

Alan Weckel, director of Ethernet Switch Market Research at Dell'Oro Group, said: "The Ethernet Switch market surged in 2010 as enterprise and small businesses rebounded from economic weakness in 2009 and the datacentre continued to expand rapidly.

"Given the strength and record levels achieved in 2010, we believe that the overall Ethernet switch market will remain flat in 2011, as growth in the datacentre will be offset by price erosion and increased competition for enterprise and small business spending."