EMEA LAN switch revenues up 6.6% in Q4 2004

In Q4 2004 the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) LAN switch market grew surprisingly strongly, both in terms of port shipments and revenues, compared to Q4 2003 and Q3 2004. Port shipments increased by 8.2%, from 16.2 mln ports in Q3 2004 to 17.5 mln ports in Q4 2004; and after two quarterss of decline, revenues started to grow again by 6.6%, from $1.1 bln in Q3 2004 to $1.2 bln in Q4 2004. Growth in the EMEA LAN switch market is even more impressive if Q4 2004 is compared with Q4 2003. Year-over-year port shipment growth is 22.1% and revenue growth (not corrected for changes in exchange rates) is 17.7%, according to IDC.

The driver behind growth in the EMEA LAN switch market in Q4 2004 continued to be Gigabit Ethernet sales. Gigabit Ethernet port shipments increased by 15.4% and revenues increased 9.6% in the period Q3 2004 to Q4 2004. In Q4 2004, a number of vendors were able to grow both their port shipments and revenues with double digits; notably D-Link, HP Procurve, and Nortel performed well and were able to grow their market shares. Measured in revenue, the largest vendor in Q4 2004 was Cisco, although it lost 3.2% revenue market share. HP Procurve, Cisco's main competitor in this market, won 2.2% revenue market share. The other major LAN switch vendors were 3Com, Nortel, and Extreme.