The RAN report highlighted that growth in Europe and the Middle East and Africa nearly balanced out downturns in Latin America and Asia Pacific
In sum – what to know:
RAN revenues grow outside China – Dell’Oro reports three straight quarters of RAN growth outside China after years of contraction.
Regional divergence persists – Europe and MEA gains nearly balanced declines in Latin America and Asia Pacific, showing uneven global performance.
Huawei and Ericsson dominate – Together they held more than 60% of share in China and North America, keeping top positions alongside Nokia, ZTE, and Samsung.
The Radio Access Network (RAN) market continued to show signs of recovery in the second quarter of 2025, according to preliminary data from Dell’Oro Group.
After two years of contraction, early estimates suggest that global RAN revenues—covering baseband, radio hardware, and software (but excluding services)—rose for the third straight quarter outside of China, Dell’Oro said.
“Our preliminary findings confirm the trend we have been tracking for some time. Conditions in the RAN sector are stabilizing, with three consecutive quarters of growth outside China,” said Stefan Pongratz, vice president of RAN market research at Dell’Oro Group. “That said, sentiment in the wider industry remains cautious. A swift recovery is not expected, as short-term improvements are unlikely to alter the overall flat trajectory of the market in the long run,” he added.
The Dell’Oro’s 2Q25 RAN report also highlighted that growth in Europe and the Middle East and Africa nearly balanced out downturns in Latin America and Asia Pacific.
The report also noted that vendor competition is shifting, shaped by three forces: leading players are strengthening, weaker rivals are not improving, and the market is becoming more polarized.
Ericsson and Huawei together represented more than 60% of RAN share in North America and China, respectively, during the first half of 2025. The report also showed that the top five global RAN vendors, based on revenue for the trailing four quarters, were Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, ZTE, and Samsung.
Looking ahead, Dell’Oro maintains its view that the RAN market will stabilize throughout 2025, without a sharp rebound.
Last month, Dell’Oro stated that the global 5G Mobile Core Network (MCN) market was projected to grow at a 6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2024 to 2029. The acceleration is largely attributed to the rising adoption of 5G Standalone (SA) architecture, which supports next-generation network capabilities.
Meanwhile, the Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) segment is expected to expand at a significantly faster 17% CAGR, driven by network slicing, Reduced Capability (RedCap) devices, and the increasing momentum of network APIs, particularly those linked to the GSMA’s Open Gateway initiative.
“Our forecasts are primarily driven by subscriber growth rates and the usual subscriber behavior, and for the 5G MCN segment, our current projection is at a 6% CAGR,” said Dave Bolan, research director at Dell’Oro Group. “However, the emergence of Generative AI and Agentic AI, especially with increased data traffic and expectations for continuous, low-latency connectivity, may eventually require expanded network capacity, which could push the growth rate even higher. Agentic AI is also the key to reaching L4 autonomous networking, which could dramatically reduce operational costs for mobile network operators (MNOs).”
In May, Dell’Oro reported that the global mobile core network (MCN) market experienced a 32% year-over-year growth in the first quarter of 2025. China posted a 122% year-over-year increase, while the rest of the world saw 12% growth. As such, Dell’Oro is now projecting 5% year-over-year growth in the total MCN market in 2025, and 15% growth in the 5G MCN segment — driven by a 12%increase in China and 3% in the rest of the world.
Besides the China picture, Dell’Oro Group said Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA region) will see the highest growth in 2025.
