ABI Ranks the 3G WiMAX Equipment Vendors ...
... in the early stages of WiMAX rollouts.
ABI Research WiMAX Equipment Vendor Matrix Ranking
1. Samsung 6. Nokia Siemens
2. Motorola 7. Alvarion
3. Cisco Systems 8. Alcatel-Lucent
4. Nortel 9. Soma
5. Fujitsu 10. Telsima
>> Samsung Leads WiMAX Race
Cassimir Medford
Red Herring
06 March 2008
redherring.com
South Korean giant Samsung is the world's premier WiMAX equipment vendor according to a research report published on Thursday.
Of the top 10 vendors on the list released by ABI Research only three, Alvarion, Soma Networks, and Telsima, are WiMAX specialists while the other seven are established telecom players such as Motorola and Alcatel-Lucent.
That indicates to some observers that attrition is setting in as WiMAX makes its long-awaited transition from emerging technology to a driving force behind real-world networks.
"When very large carriers like Sprint decide to deploy commercial WiMAX networks, they tend to choose large established players like Samsung and Motorola," said Rehan Jalil, CEO of WiChorus, a San Jose based maker of core WiMAX equipment.
Sprint Nextel, the number three carrier in the U.S., is the largest carrier in the world to commit significant resources to WiMAX. That made its network deployment the technology's most lucrative project to date.
Despite the fact that most of the vendors in the market are specialists and startups, Sprint chose Samsung, Motorola, Nokia Siemens, and Intel as its equipment suppliers. That helped vault Motorola and Nokia Siemens up the top 10 list.
In October Cisco bought WiMAX specialist Navini for $330 million and that pushed Cisco to the third spot on the list.
The WiMAX top 10 list in ranking order is: Samsung, Motorola, Cisco, Nortel, Fujitsu, Nokia Siemens, Alvarion, Alcatel-Lucent, Soma, and Telsima.
The vendors are judged on innovation and implementation which involves customer wins, contract awards, global reach, market share, patents, R&D, time to market, and first movers, among others.
Israel-based Alvarion has made a living on WiMAX deployments throughout the developing world while San Francisco-based Soma and Sunnyvale, California-based Telsima have focused largely on India.
"The WiMAX market is still in flux so the rankings are based to a large extent on the market's early returns. That's why Samsung is at the top. It has been at it for a long time," said Fred Boxa, principal with IBB Consulting
Samsung has been involved in the development and deployment of WiBro, a South Korean version of WiMAX, for the last few years.
But all is not lost for smaller players.
"As the WiMAX market matures, smaller companies will have to specialize even further into areas that have not yet been reduced to commodity status," Mr. Jalil said. ###
>> Samsung Tops New ABI Research Mobile WiMAX Equipment Vendor Matrix Ranking
ABI Research
New York
Mar 06, 2008
tinyurl.com
Samsung has been ranked at the top of the latest Vendor Matrix for WiMAX equipment vendors released by ABI Research. Motorola and Cisco Systems claimed the second and third spots in the company's new evaluation of worldwide mobile WiMAX equipment vendors. The Vendor Matrix is an analytical tool developed by ABI Research to provide a clear understanding of vendors' positions in specific markets.
Principal analyst Philip Solis comments, "The top companies in this ABI Research Vendor Matrix are all strong in providing various wireless and wired parts of telecommunications solutions, which will be critical in constructing a comprehensive offering. Most of these companies have also done early work in critical smart antenna solutions and OFDMA, holding strong intellectual property portfoliosin these areas."
Vendors are assessed by ABI Research on the important parameters of "innovation" and "implementation" across several criteria unique to each vendor matrix, such as customer wins, contract awards, global reach, market share, patents, R&D spending, time to market, and first movers, among others.
For this particular matrix, under "innovation," ABI Research examined early product development for mobile WiMAX; intellectual property for OFDMA, MIMO, and beamforming; early MIMO R&D early beamforming R&D, and end-to-end telecom product offerings.
Under "implementation," ABI Research scrutinized the following criteria: major customer wins announced; number of trials acquired; major mobile operator customers; focus on high-growth developing countries, and partnerships with other companies in the WiMAX ecosystem. ... <snip rest>. ###
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