CAMPBELL, CA –  Broadband customer-premises equipment sales were down 13 percent  in the first quarter of 2010, with a big drop in ADSL equipment, according to market research firm Infonetics Research.
Infonetics analyst Jeff Heynen explains that the first quarter of the year is usually one of the worst for the broadband customer-premises equipment (CPE) market, as net subscriber additions and new CPE sales slow after the much better third and fourth quarters. This quarter was also hurt by lingering economic difficulties worldwide, which are keeping many consumers from upgrading their existing CPE to support new services. Heynen says, “In particular, we saw a big drop in ADSL CPE in 1Q10, as operators are focused on deploying FTTH and VDSL2 services and are spending less to market their basic broadband services. All in all, 2010 will be a difficult year for CPE vendors, as operators see fewer new subscribers and will do what they can to use their existing inventory rather than purchase new equipment.”
BROADBAND CPE MARKET HIGHLIGHTS
– In 1Q10, the worldwide broadband CPE market totaled $967.3 million, down 13 percent from 4Q09
– Â Due to slowing cable subscriber growth and the fact that many cable subscribers will hold on to their DOCSIS 2.0 CPE for a long time, DOCSIS 3.0 CPE sales are expected to take a hit
– Â Infonetics expects VDSL CPE sales to soften as many major telcos move to direct FTTH, rather than via FTTB or FTTN and VDSL2.
