Service provider CapEx spending made a nice rebound in 2004 with worldwide spending totaling $207 billion, indicating a brighter future for the service provider WAN equipment market, reports In-Stat. Service provider CapEx budgets will continue to grow moderately over the next five years, as wireline service providers invest in new triple-play and converged MPLS networks, and wireless service providers build new 3G infrastructure, the high-tech market research firm says. Worldwide service provider CapEx budgets are forecast to reach $278 billion in 2009. "In-Stat forecasts particularly strong growth in sales of packet telephony media gateways and softswitches, core and edge routers, WiMAX base transceiver stations, and teledatacom servers, in 2005," says Henry Goldberg, In-Stat analyst. "Sales of multiservice switches, optical transport equipment, and DSLAMs should also grow." The largest component of worldwide WAN equipment sales in 2004 was mobile wireless infrastructure, which was about 29 percent of total worldwide network CapEx budgets. Voice circuit switches, which used to be the largest component of wireline networking hardware, accounted for only about 5 percent of WAN equipment sales to service providers in 2004. DSLAM port shipments continued to grow strongly in 2004, but revenues declined because of reduced prices due to stiff competition among suppliers.
The personal computing device market continues to demonstrate remarkable resilience despite recent fluctuations. According to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), global PC shipments are projected to reach 273 million units in 2025—a modest but significant 3.7 percent increase over the previous year. This growth reflects the market's adaptation to post-pandemic realities and evolving technology needs across the globe. Personal Computing Market Development While COVID-19 initially triggered unprecedented demand for computing devices during the shift to remote work and online education, we now see a more measured growth pattern. IDC has slightly adjusted its projections downward, indicating a market growing steadily rather than explosively. "In light of so many challenges around the world, Japan is a much-needed source of double-digit growth this year. Enterprises there as well as SMBs have been quickly replacing PCs in advance of the Window...