Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent continue to vie for leadership of the global LTE market, however the pair were fighting over a shrinking market in 1Q12, Infonetics Research claims.
The research firm notes global infrastructure revenues for all wireless kit fell 8% to $10 billion (€8.1 billion) year-on-year in the first quarter, and 14% sequentially – reversing growth during the fourth quarter. Principal analyst Stéphane Téral notes Ericsson, Alca-Lu and Huawei remain front runners in LTE, but states all infrastructure sales were down during 1Q12.
“The overall mobile infrastructure market took a beating in the first quarter,” he says, adding that the slowdown was “exacerbated by China Mobile’s dramatic GSM pause on the heels of extraordinary shipment levels in the previous quarter.”
While revenues were down during the period, Téral notes spending on LTE kit grew 128% year-on-year. The firm predicts the LTE infrastructure market will be worth $17.5 billion by 2016.