Dell’Oro Group reports Ethernet over two-thirds of 3Q25 AI back-end switch sales
Dell’Oro Group found Ethernet made up more than two-thirds of data center switch sales in Artificial Intelligence (AI) back-end networks for the quarter and year-to-date, a development relevant for enterprise network procurement and capacity planning.
Market Overview
Dell’Oro Group reported Ethernet accounted for more than two-thirds of data center switch sales in AI back-end networks during the quarter and across the first three quarters of the year, up from less than half in the same period last year.
Key Findings
800 Gbps switches comprised the vast majority of Ethernet switch shipments and revenues in AI back-end networks during the quarter.
Segment or Supplier Performance
Accton, Arista, and Cisco captured the highest share in the Ethernet segment, while Celestica and NVIDIA continued to lead with nearly 50 percent combined share in that segment.
Technology or Trend Analysis
“The rapid ramp of NVIDIA’s latest Blackwell Ultra platform drove a surge in InfiniBand switch sales, which posted strong growth for the second consecutive quarter,” said Sameh Boujelbene, Vice President at Dell’Oro Group.
Forecast or Analyst Outlook
“Nonetheless, in line with our expectations, growth in Ethernet sales continues to outpace that of InfiniBand, propelled by strong demand from large AI cluster builders, including Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, xAI, and others,” said Sameh Boujelbene, Vice President at Dell’Oro Group.
Methodology Notes
The report provides an in-depth look at switches deployed in AI back-end networks to connect accelerated servers and includes vendor-level revenue, ports shipped, and average selling prices for Modular and Fixed Managed and Unmanaged Ethernet Switches across speeds from ≤100 Gbps up to ≥3.2 Tbps.
The report also covers revenue split by regions and customer segments, including the top U.S. cloud providers, top China cloud providers, and large enterprises.
The Analyst Signals brief synthesizes the report's main points for decision-makers. This Analyst Signals brief reflects a neutral, fact-based summary of the original research note.