The global network equipment market ended 2022 with confident growth. Sales of Ethernet switches rose 18.7% to $36.5 billion. The router segment, which includes equipment for enterprise customers and operators of communications and cloud services, registered an increase of 3.9% and annual revenue of $16.5 billion. IDC analysts report.

The switch market has nearly doubled its growth rate over the past year compared to 2021, when equipment sales in money rose by 9.7%. This was facilitated by the strengthening of positive dynamics in the second half of the year: in the third quarter, sales increased by 23.9%, and in the final quarter of 2022 – by 22% year-on-year.

The most significant positive factor was the easing of component shortages and the reduction of disruptions in the supply chain. Enterprises, telecommunications service operators and cloud providers continue to build switching capacity, thereby increasing the importance of communication and network infrastructure in today’s digitally-driven business world.

The analysis from a geographical point of view shows pronounced growth in most global markets. In the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan and the PRC, sales of switches in 2022 rose by 17.5%, and in China – by 9.2%. In Japan, a decrease of 8.6% was recorded. In the USA, sales of switches increased by 26.2%, in Canada – by 17%. Latin America showed the most impressive pace – by 39.6%. The market of switches in Western Europe increased by 19.7%, and in Eastern Europe – decreased by 2.8% compared to 2021. In the countries of the Middle East and Africa, an increase of almost 20 percent was registered.

Operator class equipment continues to play a dominant role in the market. In 2022, it accounted for 73.7% of turnover, and the remaining approximately 26% of turnover was provided by the corporate segment. At the same time, in the operator category, the year-on-year growth was only 1.3%, while the implementation of routers for enterprises rose by 12.9%.

The world’s largest supplier of network equipment in terms of sales remains Cisco, whose sales in 2022 increased by 13.4%, and routers – by 5.5%. Huawei, despite the US sanctions, retained the second place and even achieved 20 percent growth in the switch segment, while Huawei’s annual turnover in the router market decreased by 3.4 percent. Arista Networks, H3C and HPE are also traditionally included in the top five suppliers.