As the telecommunications industry races towards total VoIP conversion, PBX/KTS revenue has shown a 7% increase from the previous quarter according to Infonetics Research’s Enterprise Telephony report. Using supply-side and demand-side data, Infonetics also predicts that revenues will increase 9% by the third quarter of 2006.

 

Highlights from the market during the third quarter of 2005 include a jump in IP PBX revenue by 10 percent from second quarter to third quarter resulting in almost $1.7 billion. While pure IP revenue was up by only 1 percent, hybrid PBXs drove the majority of the growth in the market. The top system vendors for total lines shipped in the third quarter include Nortel, Avaya, Siemens, Alcatel and NEC with Nortel dominating the North America IP PBX market.

 

According to Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst at Infonetics Research, there is fierce competition between Avaya and Cicso for the second placed position behind Nortel. Cisco briefly surpassed Avaya in the second quarter of this year in an attempt to knock Avaya out of its leading position. Avaya fought back in the third quarter by increasing line shipments by 23 percent while Cisco only increased by 2 percent. This solidified Avaya’s second place position, at least for the third quarter.

 

The Enterprise Telephony report tracks TDM PBX/KTS systems and hybrid and pure IP PBX systems in North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific, CALA, and around the world. The companies that are tracked include 3Com, Aastra, Alcatel, Avaya, Cisco, ESI, Mitel, NEC, Nortel, Siemens, Sphere, Swyx, Toshiba, Vertical Communications and Zultys, among others.

 

Infonetics is an international market research and consulting firm which specializes in data networking and telecom. The reports published by the company are intended to provide a complete view of the market through constant interaction with equipment manufacturers, service providers, end-users, chip and component manufacturers, sales channels and the financial community.

 

When analyzing the industry, Infonetics uses in-depth data from both sides of the market to give an accurate picture of market status and forecasting. Infonetics takes the position in its findings that the momentum in the next gen voice market will continue to grow as carriers around the world shift from traditional TDM to IP networks, lowering costs and generating new revenues through added services.

 

The status of an improving economy plays a significant role in the move toward VoIP technology, contributing to the continued growth in revenue for IP PBX. With an improving economy comes increases in consumer confidence, thus an growing willingness to pay for additional services. Consumers are seeing the advantages being offered by VoIP technology and they are becoming more and more willing to pay for it. With increases in demand we will of course see increases in supply. As companies continue to compete for top positions in the market, consumers will benefit.

 

Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMC and has also written for eastbiz.com. To see more of her articles, please visit Susan J. Campbell’s columnist page.