Leadership Scorecard: The Top Six Telecom Vendors

Market research firm Infonetics Research released excerpts from its 2013 Telecommunications Equipment Vendor Leadership Scorecard, which profiles, analyzes and ranks the six leading suppliers of telecom infrastructure, software and services: Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Ericsson, Huawei, NSN and ZTE.

Infonetics’ telecom scorecard evaluates vendors on criteria using actual data and metrics, including direct feedback from buyers, vendor market share, share momentum, financials and solution portfolio. This approach eliminates subjectivity and ensures vendors are assessed accurately and fairly.

Click through for a rundown on the top six telecom vendors identified on Infonetic’s 2013 telecommunications vendor leadership scorecard.

“The six vendors profiled in our telecom scorecard together earn more than half of the world’s telecom equipment and service revenue and share a common thread: they offer products and services across the entire telecom spectrum,” notes Michael Howard, co-founder and principal analyst for carrier networks at Infonetics Research.

“The race for top ranking was tight this year,” continues Howard. “The top three vendors — Huawei, Ericsson and Cisco — are bunched closely together due to different strengths, but it’s financial stability that sets them apart from the other three vendors-Alcatel-Lucent, NSN and ZTE.”

With a solid performance in market share, market share momentum and solution breadth, Huawei received the highest overall score for telecom vendor equipment and services

Ericsson, the world’s largest provider of telecom equipment and services, took the No. 2 spot, finishing a whisker behind Huawei; Ericsson nabbed above-average scores overall and, thanks to its RAN offering, is in a good position to grow as the world continues to go mobile.

Cisco, No. 1 in Infonetics’ companion enterprise scorecard, comes in third in the telecom infrastructure scorecard, earning high marks for financial stability and technology innovation

The other vendors analyzed in the report — Alcatel-Lucent, NSN and ZTE (in alphabetical order) — are well behind the top three, but each has corrective measures in place for 2013.

• Through its SHIFT plan, AlcaLu is prioritizing its product portfolio and investing in fewer segments going forward.
• Nokia has announced the buyback of Nokia Siemens Networks from Siemens.
• ZTE is re-strategizing and has a strong Chinese service provider base to fund global expansion plans.