Enterprise spending on telecom has dropped to its lowest level since the depths of the recession, but spending on unified communications systems is robust, according to the latest research from Infonetics. “In the first quarter of 2013, enterprise PBX (private business exchange) spending dropped to its lowest point since mid-2009,” wrote Diane Myers, principal analyst for VoIP, UC, and IMS at Infonetics Research.
The firm says enterprise PBX spending fell 10% in the first quarter to $1.8 billion. The only region of the world to see a spending increase was the Asia-Pacific region, where PBX spending was up 7% in the first quarter of 2013.
Unified communications spending, however, was up across the board. Infonetics says enterprise spending on unified communications solutions increased 21% versus the first quarter of 2012.
In late 2012 Forrester Research commissioned a survey of 2,347 North American enterprise and small-to-medium business telecom and network decision makers, and found that 22% were already implementing UC solutions, while another 31% said they were interested in doing so.
Despite the overall slowdown in PBX spending, several vendors posted year-on-year revenue gains. Infonetics says these include Microsoft, which has a strong presence in unified communications, as well as LG Ericsson, Mitel, NEC, and ShoreTel.
