Margin-rich Avaya tops buoyant PBX market

Telephony space looks in solid shape in Q3 but Cisco has to swallow ASP decline to keep pace, according to Infonetics

Avaya held on to its margins and its lead over rival Cisco as the PBX market enjoyed a bright third quarter.

Figures from Infonetics Research reveal that global PBX revenue stood at $2.15bn (£1.4bn) in Q3. This represents a 5.5 per cent rise on the preceding quarter and marks the first time this year the market has enjoyed sequential growth. Q3 sales were also up 6.6 per cent on the corresponding period last year.

After a run of lacklustre quarters, EMEA was the star performer in Q3, with revenue growing 11 per cent sequentially. But Infonetics pointed out that it "remains cautious about EMEA due to the current economic situation".

Avaya is the world's leading PBX maker for the fourth consecutive quarter. Diane Myers, directing analyst for VoIP and IMS at Infonetics, claimed the vendor is "holding on to its revenue lead with steady shipments and healthy ASPs (average selling prices)".

Cisco is "a close second" and posted sequential and year-on-year revenue growth in Q3. But the vendor's ASPs took a hit as it drove up sales with promotional offers and keen pricing.

Unified communications revenue in Q3 grew 15.2 per cent sequentially, with Microsoft one of the market's biggest success stories. The software giant saw sales of its Lync platform increase 25 per cent annually.