China will continue its dominance in the global optical
fiber broadband market throughout 2011 and beyond, due to the huge predicted
growth in subscribers in the country and the strength of its vendors, according
to Ovum.
China’s FTTx subscribers will reach 100 million in 2016,
which will represent more than 50 per cent of the world’s subscribers.
Chinese FTTx vendors Huawei and ZTE, which were ranked
the world’s number one and two, respectively, in 2010 by market share, will
continue to hold their positions for years to come. The companies are a strong
force both in the local Chinese market and overseas and their competitors will
find it almost impossible to unseat them.
China is the biggest consumer of FTTx equipment right
now and that is set to continue. A key driver of the enormous forecasted growth
is the bandwidth and subscriber targets set by the Chinese government and
service providers,” said Julie Kunstler, Ovum principal analyst and co-author
of the report.
In addition, the government is providing support for
deployments in the form of credit and partnerships. Meanwhile, the significant
greenfield construction projects that are under way in the country make the
installation of FTTx networks easier,” Kunstler added.
In terms of the Chinese vendor picture, the report finds
that Huawei will continue to be ranked the world’s number one throughout 2011
and beyond and competitors will struggle to steal market share from it. It
states that Huawei is the leading FTTx PON vendor today in China and Europe,
the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) and the company will benefit from future
growth in China and Eastern Europe.
Chinese FTTx vendors Huawei, ZTE, and FiberHome make up
three of the top five global vendors and are ranked first, second, and fourth,
respectively. The rise of the Chinese suppliers is mainly due to lower growth
rates in Japan and Korea, where high FTTx household penetration rates have been
reached. In addition, Japanese and Korean vendors are not major exporters of
FTTx equipment.
Huawei and ZTE are strong exporters outside of China. In
the fourth quarter of 2010, 50 percent of FTTx equipment revenues in EMEA
corresponded to shipments by these two vendors. They have strong expertise in
FTTx, given their large home market, and they will continue to be a formidable
force around the globe. There will continue to be room for other players, but
it will be difficult to unseat the top two.
By TelecomLead.com Team
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