Demand for High End Routers dramatically improved in 2025 following an 18 percent market correction in 2024 that was caused by oversupply combined with lower growth in network demand, according to a new report from Dell’Oro Group. The market recovery is being led by Core Router revenue, which is forecast to grow at an 11 percent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2030. The increase in demand for routing equipment is expected to be driven by improving conditions across multiple facets of the networking industry, especially related to AI data centers, and across the three major customer verticals: communication service provider, cloud provider, and enterprise/public.
“We significantly increased the High End Router market forecast from the one we published just six months ago,” stated Jimmy Yu, Vice President at Dell’Oro Group. “The main reason for the increase is an unexpected V-shaped recovery in Core Routers that is underway, driven by cloud providers and communication service providers as network demand increases, likely due to growing data center traffic. Additionally, while agentic AI is still in its early days, we believe enterprises are beginning to upgrade their networks to be AI-ready,” added Yu.
Additional highlights from the Service Provider Router and Switch 5-Year January 2026 Forecast Report:
- The cumulative High End Router revenue for the five-year forecast period is $71 billion.
- Communication service providers (CSPs) will continue to be the largest buyers of High End Routers, accounting for over 70 percent of the revenue, for the next five years. However, demand for routers from cloud providers and enterprise/public organizations is predicted to grow faster.
- Core Routers are forecast to have the highest five-year CAGR, followed by Enterprise High End Routers and then Edge Routers.
- Router demand is predicted to increase across all the major regions for the next five years.