The worldwide Data Center Switch market recorded its first decline in nine years, dropping 9 percent year-over-year in the first quarter, according to a new report from Dell’Oro Group.
1Q 2020 revenue level was also the lowest in three years. The softness was broad-based across all major branded vendors, except Juniper Networks and white box vendors. Revenue from white box vendors was propelled mainly by strong demand from Google and Amazon.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has created some positive impact on the market as some customers pulled in orders in anticipation of supply shortage and elongated lead times,” said Sameh Boujelbene, Senior Director at Dell’Oro Group. “Yet this upside dynamic was more than offset by the pandemic’s more pronounced negative impact on customer demand as they paused purchases due to macro-economic uncertainties. Supply constraints were not major headwinds during the first quarter but expected to become more apparent in the next quarter,” added Boujelbene.
Additional highlights from the 1Q 2020 Ethernet Switch – Data Center Report:
- The revenue decline was broad-based across all regions but was less pronounced in North America.
- We expect revenue in the market to decline high single-digit in 2020, despite some pockets of strength from certain segments.
