Second quarter port shipments for DSL equipment grew 17% sequentially to a level only surpassed in the second quarter of last year, a report from Dell'Oro Group said.
A Wireless News report further quoted the research firm saying the increase occurred at the same time quarterly subscriber additions declined to their lowest level in almost five years.
'On the surface there appears to be a disconnect between the higher port shipments and lower subscriber additions,' said Tam Dell'Oro, president of Dell'Oro Group. 'But further analysis indicates that much of the growth was driven by shipments to China where the government mandated limited network growth in the third quarter due to the Olympics.
The report added that this resulted in 50% higher sequential port shipments to China in the second quarter where advanced buying occurred.
'We believe a correction is likely in the second half of the year driven by limited shipments to China in the third quarter and lower demand in established regions resulting from slowing subscriber additions,' Dell'Oro said.
The report also shows that the three companies accounting for most shipments to China were also the market leaders. Alcatel-Lucent remains in the top spot followed by Chinese manufacturers Huawei and ZTE.