Data Center Network
sponsored by Dell Force10
10 Gigabit Ethernet to Command Half of $28 Billion Market by 2016
By David SimsAs 10-Gigabit Ethernet switches continue to decline in price and increase in popularity, one research firm predicts that by 2016, they’ll come to dominate half of what’s projected to be a $28 billion market.
According to industry observer Robert Mullins, the Dell’ (News 
- Alert)Oro Group recently released research forecasts revealing that by 2016, 10GbE deployments will be worth $13 billion. The same research pegs the growth of 40- and 100GbE products to combine for $3 billion by that time.
Of course the standard 1-Gbit Ethernet deployments still rule the market, as one industry insider estimated that 90 percent of the unit sales his company does are 1-Gigabit. But Arpit Joshipura (News - Alert), chief marketing officer for data center networks company Dell Force 10 Networks, told Mullins that "This is the year of 10 gig. All of a sudden, this year we will see a lot more 10GbE deployments, and it's already starting to happen in our customer base."
Last December TMC (News - Alert) noted that the Ethernet switch-chip market grew to a record $1.6 billion in 2011, citing information provided by The Linley Group's report, "A Guide Ethernet Switch and PHY Chips," which found that “although GbE provides the vast majority of switch-chip revenue, 10GbE is growing rapidly. Merchant switch-port shipments doubled in 2011, driven by increasing use of 10GbE top-of-rack (ToR) switches and blade-server fabrics.”
The report predicted that merchant 10GbE switch-port shipments “will grow at an impressive compound annual growth rate of 38.6 percent through 2015... growth accelerators for 10GbE switches include a server-upgrade cycle driven by Intel's (News - Alert) upcoming Romley platform, a transition from ASIC-based switches to ASSP-based switches, and growth in cloud data centers.”
Industry giant Cisco (News - Alert) reports a similar trend, telling Mullins that of their 76 percent share of the 10GbE market, the majority of those sales are 1GbE products, but 10GbE products have a faster growth rate.
It’s a bittersweet turn of events for Dell Force 10, which developed 10 GbE switches about 10 years ago and, as Joshipura told Mullins, “would have hoped the technology would have caught on sooner.”
Dell’Oro’s Senior Director Alan Weckel told Mullins that “the expected server refresh cycle prompted by the release of Intel's new Romley microprocessor platform,” which will happen in the first half of 2012 and is crucial for faster virtualization, is also driving the demand for 10GbE products.
David Sims is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of David’s articles, please visit his columnist page. He also blogs for TMCnet here.
Edited by Tammy Wolf
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