Worldwide revenues for cable access concentrator gear shrank 22% in the first quarter of this year, according to a new report from the Dell’Oro Group. However, shipments of DOCSIS 3.1 CPE grew to 5.8 million, accounting for 67% of all global cable CPE shippped, the market research firm states in its 1Q20 Broadband Access and Home Networking Quarterly Report.
A reduction in CCAP license purchases in North America served as the primary cause of the softness in cable access concentrator revenues, according to Dell’Oro. The company is calling for only a 2% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for cable broadband gear over the next five years as operators embrace virtualization (see “Virtualization cutting into broadband access gear revenue”).
Global sales of broadband access equipment of all types dropped 15% year-over-year, to $2.5 billion, during the first quarter of 2020, says Dell’Oro. COVID-19 induced supply chain issues in Asia-Pacific were the main cause. PON optical network terminal (ONT) unit shipments shrank 15%, as new installations were limited by the pandemic as well.
However, broadband systems sales should pick up later this year, according to Dell’Oro analysts. “The first half of 2020 will give way to a sustained rebound in broadband equipment spending in the second half of the year,” explained Jeff Heynen, senior research director, broadband access and home networking for Dell’Oro. “The need to expand residential broadband speeds and availability will ultimately win out over the current macroeconomic slowdown.”
Dell’Oro’s Broadband Access and Home Networking Quarterly Report includes tables covering manufacturers’ revenue, average selling prices, and port/unit shipments for cable, DSL, and PON equipment. Coverage includes Converged Cable Access Platforms (CCAP) and Distributed Access Architectures (DAAs); Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexers (DSLAMs) broken down by technology, including ADSL/ADSL2+, G.SHDSL, VDSL, VDSL Profile 35b, and G.fast; PON optical line terminals (OLTs); cable, DSL, and PON CPE; and SOHO WLAN equipment, including mesh routers.