Cisco is continuing to lead the telepresence and video conferencing market in 2013, ahead of Polycom and Huawei, said Infonetics Research.
The global enterprise telepresence and videoconferencing market rose 5 percent to $3.2 billion in 2013.
Videophones are the fastest growing segment of the hardware endpoint market: Shipments doubled again in 2013, easily passing the 1-million-unit mark.
Sales of immersive telepresence systems have fallen sharply since 2011, but appear to have reached a bottom in 2013 and even grew slightly in the second half of the year.
Asia Pacific and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) were the key growth regions in 2013, both up 8 percent, while North America was down 2 percent.
Infonetics forecasts worldwide enterprise videoconferencing and telepresence revenue to grow at a 3 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2013 to 2018.
The research report noted that demand for video capabilities is at an all-time high, but businesses’ willingness to spend isn’t, causing a shift from high-end telepresence suites and multipurpose room systems to lower-cost software and videophones for personal videoconferencing.
“This, along with lower selling prices due to competition, is hampering a more robust recovery in the videoconferencing market,” said Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise networks and video at Infonetics Research.
Infonetics Research’s 4th quarter (Q4 2013) and year-end Enterprise Telepresence and Video Conferencing Equipment report tracks dedicated and PBX-based videoconferencing and telepresence infrastructure and endpoints.
