Global broadband modem, gateways and other forms of consumer premises gear rose 8%, to $2.7 billion in the second quarter, up 8% from the previous quarter and 29% from the year-ago quarter, Infonetics said in a report issued Thursday.
China-based Huawei led the broadband CPE market in the second quarter, followed by Arris, ZTE and Technicolor, according to Infonetics.
"The overall broadband CPE market is strong, as operators continue to transition to higher-speed, wider-band technologies to support steadily growing numbers of subscribers with ever-growing appetites for bandwidth. In particular, in the cable space, DOCSIS 3.0 shipments now clearly outweigh DOCSIS 2.0," Jeff Heynen, principal analyst for broadband access and pay TV at Infonetics Research, said in a statement.
That trend has been clearly evident at companies such as Arris, which acquired the cable-focused Motorola Home unit in April. In the second quarter, Arris shipped a record number of DOCSIS-powered devices, 90% of which were DOCSIS 3.0.
Heynen noted that there was also a surprising number of fixed LTE gateways shipped in the Middle East, Africa, the Philippines, and other areas of Southeast Asia in the second quarter,” reflecting an increasing use of fixed LTE by operators to extend their broadband footprint in rural areas.
That scenario is also tricking into the U.S. This week, Verizon Communications launched a new LTE Broadband Router with Voice product from Novatel that rides the company’s speedy wireless network. That complements a data-only fixed LTE service called Home Fusion.
