IP PBX Market To Hit $6.1 Billion By 2009

The traditional private branch exchange (PBX) will soon be a thing of the past, as IP PBXs overtake time division multiplexing (TDM) units over the next five years.

According to new research from the Dell'Oro group, sales of IP PBX and Hybrid IP/TDM PBXs will reach $6.1 billion in 2009, representing an 11% compound annual growth rate. By 2009, almost 88% of PBX lines shipped will be IP, compared to half of PBXs in 2004,

"Hybrid IP/TDM PBXs are currently the most popular since they allow businesses to take advantage of IP telephony capabilities, while preserving their existing investment in TDM-based lines and digital telephones," Dell'Oro Group director of IP Telephony research Steve Raab said in a statement. "While we forecast that Hybrid IP/TDM PBXs will represent a majority of sales over the next five years, sales of pure IP PBXs will achieve the highest growth rates."

IP telephony adoption at the desktop is proceeding more slowly, due to requirements for enterprises to upgrade their network infrastructures to support critical technologies like power over Ethernet. Dell'Oro expects IP phone sales to lag behind traditional phones into 2009.