In fact, the company says, there is still certainly room for optimism, as the market grew by 6% compared to the same period last year. Both the below and above 100 extensions markets experienced growth, as they increased by 6% and 5% respectively.
This will come as good news to those manufacturers in the lower market segments: although in previous quarters there has been growth in this market space, it has been significantly slower than in the larger segments. This time, however, the below 100 extensions market has a greater percentage increase, with a particularly good set of results in the 31 to 50 extensions market. Meanwhile, a busy time was experienced in the 251 to 1000 extensions market as volumes increased by 16% compared to Q1 2006.
BT continues to lead the supplier market with a 20% share of total extensions, lower than in Q1 2006. For Nortel, this means that they now come in second to Avaya, who are just in the lead by less than 1000 extensions. Panasonic continue to do well and benefit from growth in the below 100 extensions market and come in third overall. They are very closely followed by Cisco Systems who enjoy another successful quarter. Meanwhile, growth in the IP market coupled with a record quarter for Mitel Networks sees them clinch a 12% market share, up from 8% in the same period of 2006.
Panasonic easily maintains its dominance of the below 100 extensions market and now represents 18% of this marketplace. Both Panasonic and Mitel Networks saw their shipments increase significantly in the below 100 extensions market. BT remains the number one choice of supplier in the above 100 extensions market, with a 22% market share. Meanwhile, Cisco Systems heads up the list of manufacturers.
The IP Extensions Market
The IP extensions market continues its advance – volumes are up by 41% compared to Q1 2006, which means that IP penetration is running at more than 30% in the UK marketplace. This is compared, for example, to 25% in Q1 2006. The IP stories are different in the above and the below 100 extensions markets. Still, almost three-quarters of IP extensions are shipped in the above 100 extensions market, which means that the penetration of IP into extensions sold in the lower market segments is only 15%. Even so, in the same period of Q1 2006, penetration was running at 11% - so the scenario is improving.
Mitel Networks ships more IP extensions in the sub-100 market space than anyone else in the UK – they represent 37% of IP extensions sales made in this area. Cisco Systems is their closest rival due to their improving performance in the 51 to 100 extensions market. In the smaller segments, Avaya and Nortel are the challengers. More than 150,000 extensions sold in the above 100 extensions marketplace are IP and Cisco Systems is responsible for almost 40% of them. Mitel Networks remain aggressive here, although more recently, Avaya is representing an increasing threat.