The Top 10 Best-Selling Access Point Brands In Q1 2017
Top 10 AP's By Brand
Cisco continued to lead the way in the number of access point devices sold through distribution for the first quarter of 2017, distancing itself even further from its biggest competitor Aruba Networks, according to market research firm NPD Group.
The networking giant's unit market share jumped more than 3 points year over year from January to March 2017, NPD Group found. Cisco, Aruba and Hewlett Packard Enterprise accounted for approximately 70 percent of the nearly 500,000 units sold in the quarter.
The following are the top ten best-selling access point (AP) brands during the first quarter, according to NPD Group, a Port Washington, N.Y.-based firm, which provides data from leading technology distributors.
10. Avaya
Total Q1 Units Sold: 4,623
Unit Share: 0.9%
Access points unit sales through distribution rose a whopping 470 percent year over year for Avaya during the quarter, which only sold 811 units one year ago. Unit share for the Santa Clara, Calif.-based unified communications specialist increased 0.8 points. In January, Avaya filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a move CEO Kevin Kennedy said was the "best path forward."
9. Fortinet
Total Q1 Units Sold: 5,357
Unit Share: 1.1%
AP unit sales for Fortinet climbed 26 percent compared to the same quarter one year ago, from 4,251 to 5,357 units sold. The cybersecurity vendor jumped into the wireless market by acquiring Meru Networks in 2015. Access point unit share for the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based security company remained flat year over year at around 1 percent.
8. Engenius Technologies
Total Q1 Units Sold: 5,363
Unit Share: 1.1%
Engenius Technologies witnessed the largest unit sales decline on this list, selling only 5,363 units during the quarter compared to 8,368 units one year ago – representing a 36 percent drop. Unit share for the Costa Mesa, Calif.-based wireless networking vendor dropped 0.8 points year over year to 1.1 percent. EnGenius recently launched four enterprise-class 802.11ac Wave 2 access point products ideal for deployment in high-density environments.
7. Xirrus
Total Q1 Units Sold: 8,782
Unit Share: 1.8%
The Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based Wi-Fi vendor grew its AP distribution sales by 53 percent year over year by selling 8,782 units during the quarter, up from 5,740. Unit share increased 0.5 points for Xirrus during the quarter from 1.3 percent to 1.8 percent. Xirrus is set to be acquired by Riverbed Technology in a move to boost Riverbed's software-defined WAN and cloud capabilities.
6. Aerohive Networks
Total Q1 Units Sold: 13,847
Unit Share: 2.8%
Access point device sales for Aerohive Networks dropped 2 percent during the quarter to 13,847 units, down from 14,209 one year ago. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based wireless specialist saw unit share drop 0.3 points during the quarter, down from 3.1 percent share one year ago. Aerohive recently told CRN about its huge progress and growth thanks to its networking partnership with Dell.
5. Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Total Q1 Units Sold: 17,282
Unit Share: 3.5%
HPE saw the second biggest percentage increase of units sold year over year from 7,550 in Q1 2016 to 17,282 in Q1 2017. The 128 percent sales increase allowed HPE to capture 3.5 percent unit share during the quarter, up from 1.7 percent share one year ago. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based vendor owns Aruba Networks, which also made this list.
4. Ubiquiti Networks
Total Q1 Units Sold: 33,207
Unit Share: 6.7%
Access point unit sales for Ubiquiti Networks dropped 22 percent during the quarter to 33,207, down from 42,660 units one year ago. The San Jose, Calif.-based wireless vendor also saw unit share drop 2.7 points year over year to 6.7 percent share. However, Ubiquiti had the tenth best-selling AP of the quarter with its UniFi AC Pro two-port 802.11 access point product with Power over Ethernet (PoE), according to NPD. Only Cisco and Aruba sold a more popular AP product during the quarter.
3. Ruckus Wireless
Total Q1 Units Sold: 38,289
Unit Share: 7.7%
Ruckus Wireless, now part of Brocade Communications, saw AP unit sales decrease nearly 8 percent year over year to 38,289 units. The wireless vendor's unit share dropped from 9.1 percent in Q1 2016, to 7.7 percent this quarter. Some Brocade-Ruckus channel partners say they're holding off investments in the company as Brocade is set to be acquired by Broadcom later this year, which in turn plans to sell off parts of the business to Extreme Networks and Arris.
2. Aruba Networks
Total Q1 Units Sold: 97,027
Unit Share: 19.5%
The only clear challenger to Cisco in the number of APs units sold through distribution is Aruba Networks, who captured nearly 20 percent of the 497,702 total units sold during the quarter. However, Aruba sold only 97,027 units during Q1 2017, down from 102,407 units one year ago. The company's unit share dropped 3 points year over year to 19.5 percent.
Aruba had the ninth and eighth best-selling access point products for the quarter with its 320 Series, which included the Aruba-335 one-port 802.11ac wireless AP with PoE and the Aruba-325 two-port 802.11ac duel radio wireless AP. Aruba's longtime leader, Dominic Orr, stepped down on Jan. 31, with founder and CTO Keerti Melkote taking over the reins.
1. Cisco
Total Q1 Units Sold: 232,132
Unit Share: 46.6%
The San Jose, Calif.-based networking giant captured a whopping 46.5 percent unit share, up 3.6 points year over year. Cisco sold 232,132 units during the quarter compared to 196,278 units one year ago. The network leader grabbed more unit share than all the other nine companies combined.
Cisco owned the top seven best-selling access point products sold in the market, including AP's from its wireless Aironet Series and Cisco's Meraki Cloud Managed Wireless product line. The top selling access point in the quarter was the Cisco AIR-CAP Aironet 3702i one-port 802.11ac wireless AP. Cisco on Tuesday added a new certification level to its Partner Program: Cisco Global Gold.