Yesterday, Juniper Networks (JNPR), one of the leading players in the networking space, announced that its EX Series Ethernet Switches have surpassed the one million ports mark according to the latest Dell’Oro Ethernet Switching Market Report. The EX series switches have delivered four consecutive quarters of revenue growth, with 44% and 312% increases compared to the previous and year-ago quarters, respectively.
Juniper introduced the EX-series family of Ethernet switches in 2008, including the EX3200, EX4200, and EX8200 running on the JUNOS operating system. The company also expanded its Ethernet switching product portfolio with the EX2500 line of 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) switch. With the launch of new EX switches - EX8216 and the EX2500, Juniper has reached an annual run rate of over $150 million.
The latest offering includes the EX2200 line, which is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2010. This is an important area for Juniper as Interactive Data Corp. (IDC - Analyst Report) estimates that the carrier Ethernet market will grow from $3.7 billion in 2007 to $6.8 billion by 2011.
The EX switch products are designed to meet the technical, business and economic requirements of a service-enabling network infrastructure. Juniper introduced the EX-series of Ethernet switches, setting new benchmarks for high-performance network infrastructure in the enterprise market. Through the EX series switches, Juniper has delivered operational simplicity, carrier-class reliability and infrastructure consolidation to customers.
With an enhanced product portfolio, we believe the company will continue to generate higher revenues. We remain positive on Juniper on account of new product introductions and continued cost reductions.
But Juniper faces stiff competition in each of its market segments, especially from industry leader Cisco Systems (CSCO). It also faces competition from Alcatel-Lucent (ALU), Extreme Networks (EXTR) and Foundry Networks (FDRY).
