Nokia has retained the top position in Analysys Mason’s independent annual ranking of telecoms software and services providers.
The Finnish company outperformed competitors such as Ericsson and Huawei to claim the number one spot, driven by solid growth and a product portfolio that Analysys Mason describes as leading across almost every category.
Larry Goldman, Partner and Head of Networks and Software Research at Analysys Mason, said:
“Nokia is once again the overall leader in telecoms software market share for 2019. They achieved this partly through their leadership in strong growth areas like network virtualisation but also because they are among the leaders in nearly every major category of telecoms software.
New communication service provider software decisions lean heavily toward cloud-native products which work in Nokia’s favour.”
The overall telecoms software market grew by about one percent to $66.9 billion in 2019, with Nokia’s share estimated at roughly $4.5 billion.
In Analysys Mason’s 2017 report, Nokia was ranked number one among software providers by market share, but it did not lead in services. After a strong performance in 2018, Nokia surpassed Ericsson and Huawei to top both software and services rankings that year.
Analysys Mason explains: “Nokia became the revenue market-share leader in 2018 thanks to business growth in multiple segments. Nokia’s performance was notably strong in high-growth areas such as network orchestration and automation, where it offers a wide range of products and professional services to help its customers make the NFV/SDN leap.”
Analysts had predicted that Nokia’s investment in its Common Software Foundation and its cloud-native product portfolio would reinforce its position. The latest report indicates those investments paid off in 2019.
Bhaskar Gorti, President of Nokia Software and Chief Digital Officer, commented:
“Understanding our customers and where their needs are going is central to how Nokia Software designs software and services; that is the impulse behind our truly cloud-native applications on the Nokia Common Software Foundation.
I am extremely pleased for our employees and would say on their behalf that we are gratified that customers continue to prioritise Nokia in their telco software spend.”
At the same time, ongoing geopolitical pressures appear to be affecting Huawei’s market position, while rivals such as Nokia and Ericsson are benefiting from that shift.
Analysys Mason’s full report is available through their research publication (paywalled).
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