Nortel Networks Corp., L.M. Ericsson and Siemens AG may be the major vendors to improve their harvests from the new balance of power that the third generation of technologies will generate in the European GSM infrastructure space, according to a new report by The Yankee Group.
While Nokia Corp. will retain its position as a vibrant No. 2 player with 22-percent market share, the other competitors like Motorola Inc., Alcatel and Lucent Technologies Inc. will have little to show for their labors.
In the study, titled “2.5G/3G vendor positioning: Separating the winners from the losers in the European mobile infrastructure market,” author Simone Roberts concludes that the stage is being set for consolidation during the next few years.
“The Yankee Group questions whether all these vendors will still be operating as independent entities come second round of awards,” she noted, stopping short of making any predictions on possible partners.
While Ericsson has surged ahead of the pacuch zeal in an all-Internet Protocol core network.
“We believe Ericsson’s continual success in the European market is due to its awareness of the critical importance of time to revenue and time to market for operators,” said the report.
The Yankee Group said it doubts the ability of the vendor to “meet the contract obligations for the timely delivery and implementation of networks” for its 34 3G network deals. Ericsson believes that its position is further enhanced with its recent handset deal with Sony Corp., which promises to take advantage of the Japanese company’s dainty design.
Siemens has ramped its way up to the No. 3 player by securing 19-percent market share with 13 3G contracts, seven of which are with operators in the five biggest markets. The Yankee Group said it expects the German vendor to be a force.
“It appears that Siemens may have forfeited GPRS to focus on rounding out its 3G offering,” Roberts noted in the report. “It has a strong end-to-end 3G so
