The latest research from Frost and Sullivan regarding the enterprise telephony market contains some expected data and one bit of surprising news. It is expected that during a recession sales of telephony equipment dropped. Frost and Sullivan estimate the reduction in growth from 2008 to 2009 is 20.4%. The surprise was the decline in the market for converged and native IP systems. IP line shipments declined 24.2%. The recession accounts for most of the decline but the Nortel bankruptcy also affected sales.

The report does forecast growth over the coming years, albeit at an anemic CAGR of 1.1% over a seven-year period.

While this report focuses on the enterprise telephony market, it will be interesting to see if SMBs are reacting in the same fashion. Has the overall market declined and has the SMB transition to IP communications also declined?

If the global statistics are accurate, what then are the specific numbers for the US? Broadvox continues to see very good growth in SIP Trunking and our SIP related wholesale products. However, we have noticed the length of time enterprise prospects are taking to make decisions. The opportunities are very large but the time to close has been greatly extended. This is reinforced by the latest numbers from Frost and Sullivan.

I will be very interested in seeing their report for the SMB space.

See you Friday.