CAMPBELL, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 06/07/10 -- Market research firm Infonetics Research (http://twitter.com/infonetics) released its first quarter (1Q10) 2G/3G Mobile Infrastructure and Subscribers market share and forecast report.

"It was a brutal first quarter for the mobile infrastructure market, with all segments down, marked by the absence of 3G rollouts in China, prolonged weakness in Latin America and Africa, and a continued pause in GSM upgrades and modernization. On the bright side, we are seeing sustainable 3G upgrades continuing in North America and Western Europe, and W-CDMA and CDMA 2000 radio access network equipment revenues, while down sequentially, are up over the first quarter of 2009. The 3G W-CDMA journey has begun, and as a result we expect to see a bump in the RAN equipment market, including an impressive remote radio head ramp-up as a bridge to LTE, and significant activity in the packet core segment. At some point, likely in the next year or so, GSM investments will have to kick in after so long a pause," predicts Stéphane Téral, Infonetics Research's principal analyst for mobile infrastructure.

MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

• Worldwide, all segments in the 2G and 3G mobile infrastructure market, including radio access network (RAN), mobile switching subsystem (MSS), packet core, and home location register (HLR) equipment, were down in 1Q10, with combined revenue dropping 19.5% sequentially to US$8.8 billion
• While the GSM equipment market showed some signs of stabilization in 4Q09, it took a further plunge in 1Q10, down 37% sequentially and down 47% compared to a year ago
• The W-CDMA equipment segment is up 25% year-over-year, from 1Q09 to 1Q10
• Cisco, with the integration of Starent Networks, has become a serious contender in the mobile packet core segment, which is now a 3-horse race between Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks, and Cisco
• On the vendor front for the overall market, Ericsson remains strong, Nokia Siemens Networks is recovering, and Alcatel-Lucent is back

REPORT SYNOPSIS
Infonetics' mobile infrastructure report provides worldwide and regional market size, market share, analysis, and forecasts for GSM, W-CDMA, CDMA2000, TD-SCDMA, cdmaOne mobile subscribers, RAN equipment (base station controllers; macrocell, microcell and picocell base transceiver stations; remote radio head), MSS equipment (mobile switching center, soft MSCs, wireless media gateways), mobile packet core network equipment (GPRS gateway support nodes, serving GPRS support nodes, packet data serving nodes), and HLR equipment.

Companies tracked include Alcatel-Lucent, Apertio, Cisco (Starent), Ericsson, GENBAND, HP, Huawei, Motorola, Nokia Siemens, Nortel, UTStarcom, ZTE, and many others.

RELATED RESEARCH

• LTE market accelerating, forecast to top $11 billion by 2014
• Mobile broadband card sales grew 55% in 2009, driven by HSPA
• WiMAX carriers rate Alvarion, Alcatel-Lucent, Motorola top, with Cisco, Huawei close behind
• 2G/3G Mobile, LTE, and WiFi Phones and Subscribers

UPCOMING MOBILE AND WIRELESS RESEARCH
See MOBILE AND WIRELESS on Infonetics' portal (http://www.infonetics.com/login):

• Mobile Services and Subscribers: Voice, SMS/MMS, and Broadband
• 2G/3G and LTE Mobile Broadband Devices and Subscribers
• WiMAX Equipment and Subscribers in Key Markets
• WiMAX Services Strategies: Service Provider Survey
• Residential Voice, Video, and Data Services: North America
• Mobile Infrastructure Product Features/Vendor Ratings: Service Provider Survey
• LTE Deployment Strategies: Service Provider Survey

SALES

• Larry Howard, Vice President: larry@infonetics.com, +1-408-583-3335
• Scott Coyne, Senior Account Director: scott@infonetics.com, +1-408-583-3395

Infonetics Research is an international market research and consulting firm serving the communications industry since 1990. A leader in defining and tracking emerging and established technologies in all world regions, Infonetics helps clients plan, strategize, and compete more effectively.