This year saw a steady growth of the router market with the development of
Internet and network application in India. Security and convergence became key
for routers while businesses gave it a noticeable boost. Wireless routers, too,
experienced a good growth.
The router market continued to rebound, fueling the growth of the sales
volume of entry level, mid-range and high-end routers. In addition to the
operator market, government and finance sectors became bright spots among the
industry markets. According to the recent market analysis, the router market
grew by 10.5 percent.
Moreover, the SMB market segment registered impressive performance. This too
boosted the router market. However, the trend of SMBs are now moving away from
brands, which is and perhaps will be a challenge for the prominent brands in
this market segment. SMBs expect value for money. What helps them make a choice
are factors such as features, quality, service and cost, which determine their
choice.
Meanwhile, it is interesting to note, that small players and newer entrants
are discovering that there are gaps in the market, and they are making use of
it. These smaller brands are also better placed to react quickly to an emerging
opportunity than their larger rivals. This is because SMBs are uniquely placed
to maximize a specialized market because their scale allows for flexibility and
adaptability. The best time to firm up these SMB-focused new entrants' USPs and
other business strengths and weaknesses is when their company is in its infancy.
Once they have a definitive picture of their strong suits, they will be in a
good position to begin planning to play to their strengths.
Routers provide many features that make them critical components of the
network infrastructure. Beyond fast Internet access, routers play an important
role in network security and reliability. Features like access control, QoS,
resistance to outside attacks, protection of internal network devices, and the
integrity and privacy of corporate network traffic may all depend on the router
you choose. Today, the router market is changing. The same economies of scale
that have revolutionized the personal computer (PC) market are happening now for
the commoditization of routers too. Small players feature rich products are
helping to bring new competition and lower prices to the router market. These
products deliver superior price and performance same as the big-brand
manufacturers and is transforming the router market in India.
Routers can represent a significant percentage of a company's total network
infrastructure costs. Several manufacturers are now offering commodity routers
that support scalable Ethernet and leased lines from T1 through OC12. By
deploying commodity routers, many companies can possibly save tens of thousands
of dollars on equipment and support costs. However, what these companies save by
using commodity hardware & technology they often pocket, instead of passing the
savings along to customers.
How much can companies save by utilizing commodity routers instead of
big-name routers? The answer depends on the application need. Many enterprises
need to deploy three or four different products offered by few manufacturers to
provide the same network services, which drives up equipment costs. The system
savings with commodity routers gives many companies the budget to purchase
redundant systems for network failover or hot spares. Advanced applications like
this are often out of reach for many who purchase higher-priced networking
products.
Many system integrators are now designing and installing networks that use
alternatives to the most expensive big-brand routers. As this new breed of
low-cost routers can reduce equipment costs, and help save money on technical
support and warranty services.
Irrespective of it is telecom or datacom products, today's SMBs does not
worry much about brand of the product they choose to use. Yes, this is happening
and is evident in medium sized and small networking and telecom products market
segment. More importantly system integrators have good range of choices to pick
and they also feel their profit margins are much better while meeting all the
technical requirement of the end user network demands, by shifting away from
bigger to smaller brands. It is time for the 'big Bs' to re-think their
competition, ie. thinking beyond the equivalent big players in the market.
Detailed queries to find out who is truly grabbing the market share and digging
a little deeper on that, would help what more they can be doing to sustain their
market share. Going forward, there is going to be no more premium paid, just for
the brand alone.
V Srivathsan
Technology Consultant
srivathsanveeraraghavan@gmail.com