Dell'Oro reports that Q2 RAN revenues are still declining at a double-digit rate
Huawei remains the top-rated supplier, with Ericsson and Nokia continuing on their downward trends
Sharp dips in the Indian market continue to drive the declines
Dell’Oro Group said that the Radio Access Network (RAN) market conditions remained challenging in the second quarter of 2024, with global RAN revenues declining at a double-digit rate year-over-year for a fourth consecutive quarter.
“RAN market conditions remain challenging,” Stefan Pongratz, VP and RAN analyst at Dell’Oro Group, told Fierce in an email. “Following the ascent between 2017 and 2021, the market is now declining. There will be periods of ups and downs but the long-term trend is still flat to down.”
Capex Caution
“The results in the second quarter were mostly an extension of what we have seen over the past year, characterized by cautious capex spending and challenging comparisons. On the bright side, some segments of the market are growing, offering some hope that the pace of the decline will moderate somewhat going forward,” the analyst noted.
The top five RAN suppliers based on worldwide revenues are Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, ZTE and Samsung. Relative to 2023, Huawei’s 1H 2024 revenue share is up, ZTE is stable, and Nokia and Ericsson are together down 3 to 4 percentage points.
Strong growth in North America and stable trends in China were not enough to offset steep declines in the Asia Pacific region, partly driven by sharp drops in India. “There is no question that this will not be a good year - we are projecting RAN outside of China to decline 8 to 12%,” Pongratz said.
So, 2024 will remain a dismal year for many RAN vendors.