Cisco Dominance of Enterprise Networking Undiminished in 2012

RENO, NV, February 26, 2013

New Q4 and full-year data from Synergy Research Group shows that in 2012 the six main segments within the enterprise networking market generated $45 billion in revenues for technology vendors, with Ethernet switches now accounting for almost half of all spending. Cisco achieved an average 54% market share across these segments in 2012, ranging from a high of 68% share of routers down to a low of 27% share of UC applications.

In aggregate total revenues from these segments declined by 2% in 2012, with the highest growth rate being seen in WLAN and voice systems seeing the biggest revenue decline. Meanwhile Cisco’s overall market share actually nudged upwards from 2011 to 2012, thanks primarily to maintaining its status in the switching and routing segments while increasing substantially its share of the voice systems segment. While Cisco is the market leader in all six segments, the second ranked players are varied – including HP (two segments), Avaya, Microsoft, Ruckus and Polycom.  

“This is testament to the strength, breadth, strategy and execution of Cisco” says Jeremy Duke, Synergy Research Group’s founder and Chief Analyst. “But while Cisco’s overall market share is holding steady, there are niche opportunities across the board. For vendors to successfully target those niches, they must be laser-focused and cannot hope to take on Cisco across all product areas.”

About Synergy’s Enterprise Networking research

Synergy’s Enterprise research provides quarterly market sizing and segmentation data, including operator revenues by segment and by region. Data is provided via Synergy’s uniquely flexible SIA database which enables rapid analysis and provides a range of graphic data presentation options.