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Weekly UpdatesHeavy Reading, New York, the market research division of Light Reading Inc., has published the largest market perception study of telecommunications equipment and manufacturers ever undertaken.
Titled the "Heavy Reading 2003 Telecom Equipment Market Perception Study," the 150-page report is based on a massive, invitation-only survey of service-provider employees, which garnered a record 770 responses worldwide. The respondents gave their perception of 304 vendors (85 public, 219 private) in 22 product categories, identifying which names they recognize and which of them they consider market leaders in terms of price, performance, product quality and reliability, and service and support.
Key findings include the following:
-- Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) dominates mindshare in the carrier market. In the eyes of most service provider employees, Cisco has successfully transformed itself from an enterprise-focused vendor to the leading telecom supplier in the world. Its lead isn't insurmountable, however: Juniper Networks Inc. and Nortel Networks Corp. (NYSE/Toronto: NT), for instance, surpassed Cisco in several key market perception categories.
-- Lucent Technologies Inc.'s (NYSE:LU) reputation has passed a tipping point from which it may be impossible to recover. Lucent's brand recognition remains strong, but the company is rarely seen as a leader on price and performance.
-- Most vendors are unknown by more than half of their potential customers. Cutbacks in marketing budgets are having an adverse effect on brand awareness across all telecom equipment product categories.
-- Efforts by international equipment makers to crack the North American market are showing mixed results. Alcatel SA (NYSE: ALA; Paris: CGEP:PA) and Fujitsu Ltd. have respectable levels of brand awareness among North American carriers, but Siemens AG, LM Ericsson, Marconi Corp. plc, and NEC Corp. are relatively unknown by most carriers in the region.
All 770 survey respondents work for service providers. 40.8 percent work for incumbent carriers, 20.2 percent are corporate managers, 33.9 percent work in engineering or operations, and 10.9 percent are directly involved in sourcing and procurement of telecom equipment.
"This survey leverages the huge readership that Light Reading has among service providers," said Peter Heywood, one of Light Reading's founders. "With so many carrier employees responding to such a comprehensive questionnaire, it's generated a huge mine of marketing data. The opportunities for analysis are endless."
In addition to providing an overall analysis of vendors in the telecom market, the Heavy Reading 2003 Telecom Equipment Market Perception Study drills down on the survey's 22 equipment categories. It positions them within a taxonomy and provides a detailed analysis of survey results for each segment.
Purchasers of this survey will be given access to a searchable database of the results, which can be sliced and diced according to geographic region, service provider type, respondent job category, and many other criteria. This enables the following:
-- Equipment vendors to analyze their strengths and weaknesses in different market segments.
-- Investors and financial analysts to drill down on vendor credibility with customers.
-- Carrier management to identify which suppliers are likely to give them the best deal, not only on price but on other vital aspects, such as service and support.
The product categories covered in the survey are Sonet and SDH Multiservice Provisioning Platforms, Metro Ethernet Equipment (including a separate study of Packet Ring Technology), Ethernet Access Equipment, 10-Gbit/s Ethernet Switches, Core Routers, Multiservice Switches, Edge Routers, Broadband Remote Access Servers, DSL Access Multiplexers, Equipment for Cable/MSO Networks, Third-Generation Digital Loop Carriers, Access/Metro DWDM Systems, Long-Haul DWDM Systems (including separate studies for terrestrial and submarine systems), Optical Switches, Softswitching/VOIP Equipment, IP Service Controllers (including separate studies for content switches/load balancers, traffic management devices, session controllers, and route optimization devices), Test Equipment, Fiber Access Equipment, Free Space Optics, Broadband Home Gateways, Integrated Access Devices, and Video-Over-IP Equipment.
"The Heavy Reading 2003 Telecom Equipment Market Perception Study" is priced at $4,950.
For more information on this report, or to request a free 1,500-word executive summary, call Dave Williams, sales director, Heavy Reading, at (415)293-8470.
About Heavy Reading
Heavy Reading is an independent market research organization offering quantitative analysis of telecom technology to carriers, service providers, vendors, and investors. Its remit is to provide the comprehensive competitive analysis needed today for the deployment of profitable networks based on next-generation hardware and software. This information is compiled via exhaustive surveys of both vendors' products and service provider decision makers.
About Light Reading
Light Reading is the largest telecommunications news organization in the world, visited by nearly 1 million people a month, including more than 100,000 employees and executives of carriers and service providers. Launched in February 2000, its Web site, http://www.lightreading.com, delivers timely and entertaining in-depth analysis of next-generation telecommunications technology and trends. Profitable from its inception, Light Reading has rapidly gained a reputation as required reading for anybody associated with next-generation Internet technology. The company also owns three other Web- based publications and four paid research newsletters. Heavy Reading, its market research division, was launched in September 2003.
For more information, call (415)293-8470 or visit http://www.heavyreading.com or http://www.lightreading.com.
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