Cable Modem Sales Jumped 15% In 3Q: Report

Worldwide revenues from cable modem termination system (CMTS) sales continue to grow at a healthy rate, according to Infonetics Research, increasing 15% in the third quarter of this year.

Port shipments were also up, with upstream port shipments increasing 18% and downstream ports 19%. The growth curve isn't likely to flatten out any time soon, as the cable Internet subscriber base continues to swell in North America and Europe (EMEA), the Middle East and Africa despite competitive pressure from digital subscriber line (DSL) providers. EMEA accounts for almost half of CMTS revenues. Infonetics expects increasing data capacities, Voice over IP (VoIP), multimedia, and the coming wideband DOCSIS 3.0 standard to help drive revenues to $1.1 billion in 2008.

"North American MSOs continue to steal voice customers away from incumbent telcos by offering their own VoIP services or partnering with non-facilities-based VSPs, such as Vonage," Infonetics Research analyst Jeff Heynen said in a statement. "The ability to deliver triple play services with a single bill is extremely attractive for consumers. Combine that with the recent content partnership agreements with mobile operators and you have a service bundle that will continue to pull through cable broadband subscribers for years to come."

Cisco remains the overwhelming market leader, with a 58% share of both port shipments and revenues, which were up $16 million in the last quarter. Revenues for second-place Arris increased $7 million, while Motorola held onto third place with no growth.