Overview
Published in April 2017, the structured cabling market increased slightly in 2016 after a decline of almost 3% in 2015 due to the effect of the strong USD. The cabling installed in data centres performed better than the LAN market increasing by 1.9% compared to a flat (0.2%) LAN segment. The cabling share installed in data centres remained in line with 2014 and 2015 at 20% with 80% being installed in LAN applications.
The forecast for 2017 – 2018 is positive with expected market growth of just over 3% each year, followed by a dip in 2019. LAN is expected to grow by almost 3% in 2017 and 2018, which cabling installed in data centres should increase by 4-5% in 2018 and 2019.
Sales of Cat 6A have increased and accounted for 19% of all cabling systems by volume in 2016. The uptake of Cat 6A solutions is highest in Europe and the Middle East, but measured in cabling installed Europe accounts for 55% followed by 20% in Asia Pac, 18% in Americas and 8% in Middle East. Cat 5e is still very much sold in Asia Pac with over half of all cables shipped followed by Americas with a third.