EMEA routet market up 12.3% in Q4 2005

IDC says that in Q4 2005 the EMEA router market grew strongly by 12.3% to $1.3 bln compared to $1.2 mln in Q3 2005. The small SOHO segment, the largest segment measured in revenue in Q4 2005 and which includes wireless routers, increased a whopping 53.2% from $360.5 mln in Q3 2005 to $552.3 mln in Q4 2005, thanks to strong demand for wireless and ADSL2+ routers. Sales of high-end routers, the second-largest segment measured in revenue in Q4 2005, were down 1.8% to $436.0 mln.

Cisco's revenue (excluding Linksys) declined by 9.5% from $589.7 mln in Q305 to $533.8 mln in Q4 2005, and its total router market share declined from 50.5% in Q3 2005 to 40.7% in Q4 2005. Cisco's decline in market share can to a large extent be attributed to the fact that it does not sell products under the Cisco brand in the small SOHO segment. Linksys, Cisco's SOHO division, performed extremely well in Q4 2005, therefore Cisco's and Linksys' combined market share declined much less, from 52.8% in Q3 2005 to 44.8% in Q4 2005.