“The Microwave Transmission market grew eight percent in the first nine months of the year,” stated Jimmy Yu, Vice President at Dell’Oro Group. “The demand for microwave equipment has sharply increased this year due to mobile radio backhaul, and the outlook continues to improve as 5G deployments proliferate. Our biggest concern, however, is that the supply chain is not keeping up with demand, delaying some shipments and raising costs,” added Yu.

“The expected growth rate for 2022 is more optimistic than reported last quarter with the commercial deployments of more 5G SA enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) networks,” stated Dave Bolan, Research Director at Dell’Oro Group. “We count 14 commercial 5G SA networks deployed by Communication Service Providers for eMBB services. Five of the 14 5G SA networks went commercial after the close of 3Q 2021 quarter. Europe had a surprising uptick in 3Q 2021 with 5G SA network commercial launches primarily in Germany,” Bolan added.

“Optical equipment revenue in China took a sharp turn for the worse in 3Q 2021,” said Jimmy Yu, Vice President at Dell’Oro Group. “As a result, optical revenue in China declined at a double-digit rate in the quarter, resulting in a 9 percent decline for the first nine months of 2021. At this rate, we are expecting a full year optical market contraction in the country. Something that has not occurred since 2012. Helping to offset some of this lower equipment revenue from China was the robust demand in North America, Europe, and Latin America.”

“The RAN market remains on track for a fourth consecutive year of robust growth, underpinned by healthy demand for connectivity”, said Stefan Pongratz, analyst with the Dell’Oro Group. “At the same time, more challenging comparisons combined with increased risks surrounding the supply chain will weigh on the market in 2022,” continued Pongratz.

Even with some decoupling taking place between capex and equipment revenue growth trends in the first half, we expect the relationship to remain significant going forward,” said Stefan Pongratz, Vice President with the Dell’Oro Group.