The Layer 2-3 Ethernet Switch market is expected to exceed $25 billion in 2019, according to the recently published ‘5-Year Forecast Report’ by Dell’Oro Group. Towards the end of the decade, Dell’Oro Group expects data center switching growth to be driven exclusively by the cloud.
“Data center switching will evolve rapidly through the rest of the decade and will drive most of the growth in the Ethernet Switch market,” said Alan Weckel, Vice President of Ethernet Switch market research at Dell’Oro Group. “Already we see these changes causing vendors to significantly increase the number of products they offer. Towards the end of the decade, we expect data center switching growth to be driven exclusively by the cloud, with the enterprise market declining slowly.”
“The cloud will help spur the adoption of Software Defined Networking (SDN) that is another key driver in the evolution from an enterprise-driven to a cloud-dominated Ethernet Switching market,” added Weckel. “The cloud’s need to scale, be flexible, and differentiate are ultimately all governed by what can be achieved in software.”
Dell’Oro Group’s Ethernet Switch 5-Year Forecast Report also indicates that 25 Gigabit Ethernet will be a major driver for growth in data center switching and will help propel 100 Gigabit Ethernet volumes, with enterprises adopting a different class of switch to support 25 Gigabit Ethernet compared with switches used in the cloud. The report also indicates software will transform how Ethernet switches are consumed by customers.
The Dell’Oro Group 5-Year Forecast Report offers a complete overview of the Ethernet Switch industry with tables covering manufacturers’ revenue, average selling prices, and port/unit shipments (by speed Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, 40 Gigabit Ethernet, 100 Gigabit Ethernet) for Layers 2-3 (both managed and unmanaged).
