HP Becomes No. 2 Ethernet Vendor

Hewlett-Packard is now the second-largest Ethernet port vendor, thanks to its $2.7 billion acquisition earlier this year of 3Com. According to market research firm In-Stat, HP jumped over D-Link in 2Q 2010 to grab the second-place spot behind Cisco Systems in total Ethernet port shipments.

In a report released Oct. 14, In-Stat analysts said that Cisco had 36 percent of the market, followed by HP at 20 percent, D-Link at 19 percent and Netgear at 8 percent. Coming in at 6 percent was Cisco Small Business.

HP grabbed 3Com in another move by a major vendor looking to bulk up its data center offerings. For HP, the 3Com acquisition complements its ProCurve networking business, and brings it into tighter competition with Cisco.

The numbers from In-Stat also are indicative of the consolidation going on in the industry. Combined, the top four vendors ship 83 percent of the Ethernet ports worldwide–89 percent if Cisco Small Business is factored in.

In addition, some areas saw growth in both shipments and revenue. Fixed 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports saw a 21.1 percent jump in shipments and 6.6 percent growth in revenue. In addition, PoE (Power over Ethernet) revenues grew to 18.3 percent of all Ethernet switch revenues, according to In-Stat. However, shipments of 10GbE fell 5.3 percent, even as revenues rose 2.5 percent, thanks to a jump in Layer 3 port shipments. Shipments of total fixed ports rose 3.7 percent, through revenues fell .7 percent.

For more, read the eWek article HP, with 3Com, Becomes No. 2 Ethernet Vendor.