Stability in the next-gen voice equipment market is a “very good sign” for the current industry, says an analyst with Infonetics Research.

According to Diane Myers, directing analyst for service provider VoIP and IMS at Infonetics Research, worldwide revenue in the third quarter roughly matches that of the second quarter findings from the 3Q09 forecast reports.

Findings from the “IMS Equipment and Subscribers” report show a healthy growth for IMS equipment in the near-term, as more VoIP services are adopted worldwide.

 

"On the heels of an incredibly strong second quarter, IMS equipment sales were down in the third quarter, but the decline was a result of the market returning to normal levels after the unexpected spike. Despite the drop, it was a very solid quarter for IMS equipment, which is tracking right in line with subscriber growth and new deployments. 




“We expect the worldwide IMS equipment market to more than double in 2009, and to grow to $1.6 billion by 2013," Myers said.

Also, findings from the “Service Provider VoIP Equipment and Subscribers” report uncovered that worldwide service provider Voice over IP equipment revenue totaled $595 million in 3Q09, a slight decline from the previous quarter.

“We are still expecting about a 30 percent drop in worldwide revenue for the overall 2009 year compared to 2008,” Meyers said.

A notable bright spot however was an increase of 14 percent in worldwide revenue for trunk media gateways in the 3Q09.