14 April 2025

Early findings from the Dell’Oro Group reveal a significant downturn in global telecom equipment revenues across six key categories — broadband access, microwave and optical transport, mobile core network (MCN), radio access network (RAN), and service provider (SP) router and switch.

In 2024, these revenues dropped by 11% year-on-year, marking the largest annual decline in over two decades, with a similar decline of over 20% last recorded in 2002. Over the past two years, total equipment revenue has decreased by 14%.

This decline was observed across various telecom segments and was attributed to several factors including excess inventory, a challenging macroeconomic environment, and tough comparisons against 5G rollout periods. While the fourth quarter of 2024 saw growth in North America and Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), which helped stabilize the market, demand remained weak in the Asia Pacific region, particularly in China.

The decline varied among the six telecom segments. Notably, optical transport, SP routers, and RAN experienced significant contractions, shrinking by a collective 14%. Microwave transport and MCN saw moderate declines in the low single digits, while revenues from broadband access remained relatively stable.

Regional trends indicated a mixed outlook in 2024. All five regions — North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific, China, and the Caribbean and Latin America (CALA) — experienced slow growth, yet the broader Asia Pacific region faced the steepest decline due to adverse conditions in China and other areas.

Analysts anticipate market conditions to stabilize in 2025, although they expect it will continue to be a difficult year for the telecom equipment sector. Projections suggest that global telecom equipment revenues across the six tracked sectors will likely remain flat in 2025.