Research & Analytics…

Microwave Vendors Could See A Year-End Global Sales Boost
Sales of microwave gear slowed down last year, according to two research houses that track that market, but that trend is set to change by the end of 2013, led by LTE deployments in North America. Dell’Oro Group says the point-to-point microwave-transmission-equipment market declined 12 percent worldwide in 2012 (mostly in Europe) to $4.2 billion, due to a drop in radio transceiver shipments (down 6 percent to 1.5 million). North America, however, was up 13 percent – with Alcatel-Lucent capturing the majority (44 percent) of that pie. In Europe, microwave sales fell 28 percent, and Ericsson owned 32 percent of any sales. Comments Richard Webb, directing analyst/Microwave and Carrier Wi-Fi at Infonetics Research, “The expected year-end boost to quarterly revenues did not materialize, as price erosion and capex conservation combined to deliver a seasonally countertrend 4Q dip. We expect the market trough to hang around a little while longer before renewed growth begins in late 2013.”