RAN Market Declines for Third Consecutive Quarter: Dell’Oro

Radio Access Network (RAN) market contracted by 15 to 30 percent in the first quarter of 2024, marking the third consecutive quarter of double-digit declines.
Stefan Pongratz, Vice President and analyst at the Dell’Oro Group, attributed the decline to several factors. “In addition to the known coverage-related challenges as comparisons in advanced 5G markets become more difficult, there are now serious concerns about the timing of capacity upgrades given current network utilization levels and data traffic growth rates,” he said.

Regionally, the RAN market showed mixed performance. The Middle East and Africa saw growth, while Latin America remained stable. However, North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific all experienced sharp declines in the first quarter of 2024.

Despite these regional disparities, vendor rankings remained stable, although market shares shifted. Notably, Huawei’s four-quarter trailing (4QT) revenue share improved compared to 2023, while Nokia saw a slight decline. The top five RAN suppliers based on worldwide revenues are Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, ZTE, and Samsung.

Looking ahead, growth projections for the global RAN market have been revised downward. The market is now expected to decline by 5 to 8 percent in 2024, reflecting the ongoing challenges and uncertainties in the industry.