Dell’Oro Group says campus Ethernet switch revenue rebounded in 2025
Dell’Oro Group finds Campus Ethernet switch revenue rebounded in 2025 but did not fully offset 2024’s 19 percent contraction, and the firm says Artificial Intelligence (AI) component demand and enterprise refresh cycles will affect pricing and procurement decisions.
Market Overview
The report states the Campus Ethernet Switch market recovered in 2025 yet remained below 2024 revenue levels after a 19 percent contraction the prior year.
Key Findings
“Vendors are dodging campus switch component shortages that are appearing because of the massive AI build out, and this is driving up costs,” said Siân Morgan.
The report notes rising demand for PoE ports tied to Internet of Things (IoT) and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Adaptive Power Scheduler (APS); modular form-factor spending outpaced the overall market in 2025; richer feature sets including AI Operations (AIOps) will increase vendor software revenues; and 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7) and 802.11bn (Wi-Fi 8) APS will sustain multi-gig port demand.
Segment or Supplier Performance
For the second time in history, spending on modular form factors grew faster than the total market in 2025, according to the report.
Technology or Trend Analysis
The analysis highlights higher PoE power requirements and WLAN APS adoption as drivers of port-level demand and configuration requirements.
Richer switch feature sets, including AIOps functionality, are expected to increase software revenue streams for vendors as hardware and port needs evolve.
Forecast or Analyst Outlook
“There has already been one round of price increases, and we expect more to come. Prices are growing at a time when enterprises must refresh their older switching gear to ensure security compliance, and to prepare for the proliferation of AI agents. Customer demand, combined with the higher prices will drive market growth over the next five years,” said Siân Morgan.
The report forecasts that customer demand plus higher prices will contribute to market growth over the five-year outlook while emphasizing the role of component availability in vendor pricing.
The report concludes that the 2025 recovery did not fully compensate for 2024 losses and that AI-related component demand and enterprise refresh requirements will shape vendor pricing and procurement activity. This Analyst Signals brief reflects a neutral, fact-based summary of the original research note.