Cisco, Avaya hit different segments in PBX, IP PBX sales; SMBs are big customers for both

Avaya and Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) are competing hard in the IP PBX and PBX market, but not likely head-to-head, said new research from Eastern Management Group. Instead, the two companies compete, generally, for a different tier of customer with different experience levels.

That "tiered competition" allowed Avaya to grow its North American market share 46 percent in 2010, while Cisco saw a corresponding 18 percent growth. The companies took share from competitors like NEC, Mitel (Nasdaq: MITL), Panasonic, Toshiba, Siemens and others.

Avaya, meanwhile, draws almost 40 percent of its sales from first time PBX and IP PBX buyers in the 50-75 employee market. Avaya and Panasonic see more first time buyers percentage-wise than do Cisco, NEC and ShoreTel. Cisco and NEC count on first-time buyers, which account for less than 20 percent of PBX and IP PBX sales.  In the case of ShoreTel, the number is less than 10 percent.

Cisco, NEC and ShoreTel, in contrast, while also selling to SMBs with headcounts in the 50-75 range, are more likely to have their PBX and IP PBX products chosen from businesses wanting unified communications and collaboration features that improve employee productivity.

EMG said companies in the 50-75 employee range increasingly are driving PBX and IP PBX sales for systems between 25-150 stations. Almost half of all PBX and IP PBX sales worldwide are to smaller SMBs. Some 40 percent of those sales are to buyers of unified communications and collaboration PBX and IP PBXs for the purpose of improving employee productivity. First time buyers account for a quarter of all purchases in the study group, EMG found.

For more:
- see this Telecom Reseller post
- see this Eastern Management Group report

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