India’s telecom equipment sector grew 43.5% in 2006-07 posting revenue of Rs. 77,170 crore, according to a research report and analysis by VOICE&DATA, India’s leading communications magazine from the CyberMedia group.

The 12th Indian Telecom Equipment Business Report released by VOICE&DATA covers three main segments – enterprise equipment, carrier equipment and end-user handsets. The report named V&D100 is based on a survey of over 500 telecom companies operating in India. 

The report reveals that the carrier equipment contributed 55% to the Rs. 77,170 crore telecom equipment sector, while the share of phone equipment stood at 30% and enterprise equipment at 14%.

In 2006-07, Nokia retained the top position among the telecom equipment companies while Ericsson jumped to the second position from the fifth position in 2005-06. 

Commenting on the survey Mr. Prasanto K. Roy, Chief Editor of CyberMedia group, publishers of VOICE&DATA, said, “The Indian telecom equipment market continues to be on a roll, with robust 43.5% growth in 2006-07. Driving this growth are the massive expansion initiatives announced by service providers, and exploding consumer demand for mobile connections on the back of crashing tariffs and handset prices.

“Going forward, deployment of the emerging 3G and WiMax technology platforms, and strong demand for innovative telecom services from enterprises, are contributing to the growth this year,” Mr. Roy added.

SEGMENT WISE BREAK-UP
Handsets clock Rs 23,452 cr, Carrier Equipment Rs 42,763 cr 

During 2006-07 the handset segment, including mobile and fixed line, reported the highest growth at 45% followed by carrier equipment and enterprise equipment at 44% and 38% respectively.

The survey reveals that revenue in the handsets segment stood at Rs 23,452 crore in 2006-07 with most of the growth coming from the mobile handsets. 

Carrier equipment clocked revenues of Rs 42,763 crore in 2006-07, a 44% growth fuelled by low broadband penetration, untapped mobile markets and adoption of innovative technologies. 

Within carrier equipment, revenues of telecom cables decreased by 34% to Rs 961 crore in 2006-07, as telecom carriers continued to focus on wireless. Telecom software and wireless infrastructure grew the fastest in this segment at 55% and 46% respectively.

The enterprise equipment segment grew at 38% to Rs 10,955 crore, fuelled by the adoption of IT in the Retail sector, increased Government investment in technology applications, and the service industry providing more value-added services. In this segment switches remained the top product category by revenues, followed by routers and voice solutions.

V&D TOP 10
Nokia, Ericcson, Motorola at top 3 slots 
Nokia retained its top position with nearly 54% share of the mobile handset market and over 26% of the wireless infrastructure market, with revenues of Rs 15,891 crore. Ericsson bagged the second position with a 95% increase in revenue to Rs 5,004 crore. Alcatel-Lucent at # 5 and ZTE at # 10 were the new entrants in the Top 10. 

LG Electronics, which stood at second position in 2005-06, slid to number 7 as its revenue fell 6% to Rs 3,140 crore in 2006-07.

In the Rs 17,871 crore telecom software category, TCS led with 18% share, followed by Tech Mahindra at over 16% and Infosys at 15%. 

The leader in the Rs 16,677 crore wireless infrastructure category was Ericsson with 28% share closely followed by Nokia with 26% and Alcatel Lucent with 18% share.

The survey found that Cisco had nearly three-fourth of the Rs 1,980 crore switches market, followed by D-Link and Nortel. The leader in the Rs 1,437 crore router market was also Cisco, with over 80% share, and with Juniper a distant second at 10% share.

About V&D100
V&D100 is the most comprehensive annual survey of the Indian telecom services and equipment industries. It is the most trusted and widely used survey for those seeking statistics on Indian communications. It is also the most comprehensive, as it covers a wide range of segments. It is perhaps the only ‘single source’ of such diverse information. 

The V&D100 (volume II) for 2006-07 will focus on telecom services and service providers and is slated for release in July 2007.

About CyberMedia
CyberMedia is South Asia's first and largest specialty media house, with thirteen publications (including BioSpectrum, Dataquest, PCQuest, Voice&Data and Global Services) in the infotech, telecom, consumer electronics and biotech areas, and is a media value chain including Internet (www.ciol.com), events and television. The group's media services include market research (IDC India), job board (CyberMedia Dice), content management and multimedia, and media education. 

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