The Fibre Channel-over-Ethernet (FCoE) segment posted greater than 20% shipment growth in 1Q13 over the year-ago quarter, according to a new report from Crehan Research. Blade server interconnects, which account for less than a fifth of the total market, continue to drive FCoE growth and now comprise more than half of all FCoE port shipments.
In contrast, the Fibre Channel switch market experienced a decline in 1Q13, with shipments falling 7% both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year. The report cites weakness at some of the large storage OEMs, in addition to a pause in purchasing by Cisco's customers in anticipation of its recently announced MDS 9700 platform, as contributors to the quarter's soft results.
"Given the importance of space, cable, power and component savings within blade servers and their chassis enclosures, and the fact that FCoE and convergence offer improvements across all these vectors, it's not surprising that FCoE adoption has been strongest in the blade server segment of the market," said Seamus Crehan, president of Crehan Research. "This growth is further bolstered by the fact that some parts of the FCoE solution are being offered at no additional price premium," he said.
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