Ericsson is leading the microwave equipment market in the first quarter of 2014 (Q1 2014), while NEC has overtaken Huawei to become the number two vendor, said Infonetics Research.
Microwave equipment revenue dipped 7 percent to $1 billion worldwide in Q1 2014.
The report said revenue for every microwave product segment-TDM, dual Ethernet/TDM, Ethernet, access, backhaul, transport-declined in Q1 2014 from Q4 2013.
Backhaul continues to dominate the microwave market, while access and transport remain stable niche segments.
By 2018, the average revenue per unit (ARPU) for Ethernet-only microwave gear is anticipated to fall to around half its 2013 value.
Earlier, the market was considering the proliferation of LTE-A upgrades and small cells deployments would drive the microwave equipment market.
Richard Webb, directing analyst for mobile backhaul and small cells at Infonetics Research, said: “Even with the arrival of 5G towards 2018, the microwave backhaul market may be arriving at the limit of demand for increasing backhaul capacity from the cell site, as many will be more than adequately future-proofed by this point.”
TelecomLead News Team
