Huawei led worldwide telecom equipment market in 1H23 despite US curbs: Dell’Oro Group

Huawei led the global telecom equipment market in H1 2023 despite the ongoing efforts by the US government to limit the vendor’s addressable market and access to the latest silicon, Dell’Oro Group said in a report recently.

“This is partly because Huawei remains the no. 1 supplier in five out of the six telecom segments we track, and the vendor continues to dominate the market outside of North America, accounting for 35% to 40% of 1H23 revenues,” said Dell’Oro Group.

The analyst firm tracks spending across categories such as broadband access, microwave & optical transport, mobile core network, radio access network, and service provider router & switch.

This is even as Dell’Oro Group reported that the global telecom equipment revenues across the abovementioned equipment categories were up by 2% year-over-year compared to H1 2022.

“After five years of expansion, during which the North America region advanced by around 50%, the pendulum swung toward the negative in the first half. The decline in North America was anticipated, but the pace of the contraction was slightly faster than expected,” said the analyst firm. It added that alongside more challenging 5G comparisons and inventory corrections affecting some technology segments, North American broadband access equipment spending “dropped to its lowest levels in nearly two years in the second quarter”.

However, the global telecom equipment revenues, excluding North America, increased by 7% in the first half of 2023, said Dell’Oro Group, adding that the telecom equipment market remains “robust outside of the US”.

Analysts at Dell’Oro Group have, however, not significantly revised the collective short-term outlook.

Following five consecutive years of growth, it expects worldwide telecom equipment revenues to remain flat in 2023.

“As always, there are risks in both directions. In addition to currency fluctuations, economic uncertainty, and elevated interest rates, inventory adjustments, new technology rollouts, and the anticipated impact of national subsidization efforts can impact steady-state assumptions for the various regions,” Dell’Oro Group said.