PBX Losing Its Enterprise Grip to UC: Avaya, Cisco, Others Face Tough Competition From Microsoft

The PBX is losing its grip on the enterprise.

Infonetics Research said this week that unified communications (UC) investments are replacing typical PBX purchases, with North America losing the most PBX market share: The region is down double digits from 2013’s third quarter, Infonetics found.

That’s because businesses are holding off from buying new PBXs as they evaluate cloud alternatives and put money into UC applications, instead of PBXs.  

“There is competitive pressure as well, but not as much as in the past,” said Diane Myers, principal analyst for VoIP, UC and IMS at Infonetics Research.

Worldwide, the PBX market – which includes TDM, hybrid and pure IP – dipped 7 percent year over year in the third quarter of 2014, but it has risen 5 percent sequentially, according to the research firm. Still, compared to a year ago, PBX license shipments have dropped 2 percent. Around the globe, PBX revenue leaders are, in alphabetical order, Avaya, Cisco and NEC, Infonetics said.

But those companies face tough competition from UC suppliers, where Microsoft, purveyor of the Lync platform, stands out as the frontrunner, said Infonetics. To that point, UC applications jumped 21 percent in 2014’s third quarter, compared to the year-earlier period.