Ericsson Tops EPC and SDN/NFV Competitive Assessment; Alcatel-Lucent Tops Innovation Stakes; and Competition from Cisco Begins to be Felt

ABI Research’s latest Competitive Assessment looks at the overall business, technical, and mindshare race of the leading EPC suppliers, including special consideration of their leadership on SDN/NFV. In a small field of top tier competitors, the overall EPC top spot goes to Ericsson thanks mostly to its high Implementation scores, second place goes to Huawei, whilst Nokia Siemens Networks holds out for a respectable third with solid scores in most categories.

In the Innovation category Alcatel-Lucent gains top spot thanks to first mover advantage from its Nuage Networks venture. Second place is captured by Huawei due to its forward looking embrace of open SDN/NFV, and third is secured by NSN having demonstrated virtualized EPC.

The Implementation first place goes to Ericsson for its worldwide market share, penetration and comprehensive End-2-End stable. Second goes to Huawei thanks to its worldwide market position and application of the R&D muscle. Third goes to Cisco for its increasingly accepted EPC platform and commanding financial strength and health at the pari-mutuel window.

“These hyper-competitive vendors differentiate in many ways, making for well-structured marketing strategies but face a challenging shopping comparison,” says Joe Hoffman, principal analyst at ABI Research. “Performance advantage is temporary and comes with the most recent technology refresh, so we see Ericsson and Huawei struggling to best each other, while Cisco and Nokia Siemens are unrelenting and quickly advance when the others stumble.”

The “EPC and SDN/NFV” Competitive Assessment is part of ABI Research’s Software Defined Networking & NFV Research Service.

ABI Research provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of trends in global connectivity and other emerging technologies. From offices in North America, Europe and Asia, ABI Research’s worldwide team of experts advises thousands of decision makers through 70+ research and advisory services. Est. 1990. For more information visit www.abiresearch.com, or call +1.516.624.2500.