Infonetics: Unified Communications Sales Take Off as PBX Market Falls

Worldwide revenue for enterprise PBXs (TDM, hybrid, pure IP) fell 9% in 2Q13 from 2Q12, to $1.81 billion, according to a new report from Infonetics.

“Slower demand and competitive pricing pressure delivered a one-two punch to the enterprise PBX market in the 1st half of 2013,” reports Diane Myers, principal analyst for VoIP, UC, and IMS at Infonetics Research. “The slight recovery we saw late in 2012 hasn’t extended into the current year. Telephony spending remains stagnant as businesses rely on existing solutions.”

Myers adds: “On the other hand, unified communications (UC) is still on fire. Worldwide UC revenue grew 34% in the 2nd quarter of 2013 from the year-ago quarter. Microsoft’s been a big beneficiary, but they’re not alone as more vendors are enhancing their offerings, finding appeal with a broader range of enterprises in the process.”

Some additional highlights:

• North America was the standout region in 2Q13, posting quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year growth as a result of improving economic conditions and a return to enterprise telephony spending
• In contrast, Asia Pacific took a hit in 2Q13; while the 2nd quarter is typically down in Asia, revenue declined in the double digits both sequentially and from the year-ago 2nd quarter
• Shipments of all PBX line types (TDM PBX, hybrid, pure IP) declined in 2Q13
• Cisco posted a sequential gain in enterprise PBX revenue in 2Q13, increasing its share of the global market to 27%; this is Cisco’s 8th consecutive quarter atop the revenue share leaderboard
• Infonetics expects the UC application segment to grow 21.3% in 2013, and the enterprise PBX market to decline 2.6%.

http://www.infonetics.com