The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted supply chains across Asia and the Pacific and hammered the global market for broadband access devices in the first quarter of 2020. Total industry revenue fell 15% from a year earlier to $2.5 billion, according to the latest data.
The market for Cable access concentrators has done even worse. Revenue fell 22 per cent to $211m, driven by a slowdown in North American purchases of CCAP licenses. The Cable access concentrator market includes CCAP cores and hosts, virtual CCAP licenses, distributed Access Architecture (DAA) nodes and modules, and other DOCSIS infrastructures.
The good news is that DOCSIS 3.1 CPE (user-based network terminal equipment) shipments rose to 5.8 million, accounting for 67% of Cable CPE shipments. By the end of 2020, the figure is forecast to reach 70%.
In the FTTP market, total PON ONT shipments declined 15% year on year as new installations and deployments were hampered by the outbreak. However, OLT port shipments were relatively flat over the period, reflecting continued investment in fiber-optic terminal infrastructure in regions such as Europe.
In the North American market, the U.S. FTTP sector is expected to grow next year with the launch of the RDOF (Rural Digital Opportunities Fund) program.
