“The disruptions caused by component shortages and supply chain bottlenecks that started over two years ago are still occurring,” said Jimmy Yu, Vice President at Dell’Oro Group. “Once supply freed up, router manufacturers were able to fulfill backlogged orders at a faster pace, driving High End Router revenue up 12 percent year-over-year in the first half of 2023.

“The MCN market ended up with lower revenues in 2023 than in 2022 after the steep slide in Y/Y revenues in 3Q 2023 and 4Q 2023. All regions had a negative growth rate for the quarter, with only North America and Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) showing a positive growth rate for the year 2023,” stated Dave Bolan, Research Director at Dell’Oro Group.

“Following the intense rise between 2017 and 2021, it’s clear that the broader RAN market is now experiencing a setback, as two out of the six tracked regions are facing notable declines,” said Stefan Pongratz, Vice President for RAN market research at the Dell’Oro Group.

“Current growth deceleration combined with the increased acceptance that Open RAN is not some kind of magic solution that will significantly alter barriers to entry or overall market concentration, is prompting more questions about the rationale behind Open RAN,” said Stefan Pongratz, Vice President and Analyst at the Dell’Oro Group.

“Although the inventory corrections seen in 2023 will continue through the first half of 2024, the second half of the year is expected to be the turning point towards renewed growth,” said Jeff Heynen, Vice President at Dell’Oro Group.