Networking giant Cisco Systems' big Internet telephony push in the Asia-Pacific region has paid off, with demand increasing dramatically last year, according to a marketing consultant's report.
Manoj Menon, director of technology practice at Silicon Valley-based Frost & Sullivan, said yesterday Cisco had helped create a lucrative Asian market for Internet protocol private branch exchange (IP PBX) hardware and software while dominating regional sales for the past two years.
With Cisco cornering 59 per cent of the market, Asia-Pacific sales of IP PBX equipment grew 324 per cent last year to reach US$49.9 million. Excluding Japan, Cisco's regional market share was 77 per cent.
Frost & Sullivan also credited Cisco with raising demand for IP phones in Asia, with sales up 248 per cent last year to 73,896 units. 'By the end of this decade, IP phones will become the standard desktop terminal in a number of Asia-Pacific markets,' Mr Menon said. 'The initial negative perception surrounding quality of voice and system reliability . . . has begun to fundamentally change.'
A recent survey of 250 senior managers conducted by Frost & Sullivan in 13 Asian countries showed that key market drivers for IP PBX gear were organisations consolidating their computer and communications networking resources and the cost-savings gained from deployment.
Mr Menon said regional demand for IP telephony gear was on track to grow 65.1 per cent a year to become a US$1.67 billion market by 2008, translating to a 55 per cent penetration rate in the region. Other significant IP PBX vendors in Asia included Oki Electric Industry, with a 21 per cent market share, NEC, 3Com, Alcatel and Avaya.
Andrew Vlachiotis, Asia-Pacific director at Cisco's new technologies group, said: 'The development of voice-over-IP and IP telephony has been driven by the globalisation of companies and their need to expand communications with their growth.'
