EJL Wireless Research Reports Global Macrocell TRx Shipments Up 24% in 2017

Salem, NH April 19, 2018:  Shipments of macrocell radio transceivers (TRx) for remote radio units (RRU) and massive MIMO antenna radio systems (MM-ARS) supporting 2G, 3G, 4G, 4,5G, 4,9G, and 5G NR were up 24% in 2017, according to the latest report from EJL Wireless Research titled “Global Macrocell Radio Transceiver (TRx) Market Analysis and Forecast, 2018-2022 14th Edition.” “The TRx report is the third in our mobile radio access network (RAN) series of market research reports and complements the recently published RRU and digital baseband unit (BBU) reports,” says founder and President, Earl Lum. EJL Wireless Research is forecasting that the macrocell TRx market will more than double in shipments in 2018 due to initial 5G NR massive MIMO deployments, offsetting a 28% decline in LTE TRx demand.

Regarding market share for the mobile radio access network (RAN) wireless equipment suppliers, EJL Wireless Research believes that the recently reinstated U.S. Department of Commerce Export Ban on ZTE Corporation may significantly alter the market share within the industry and would be potentially beneficial for Ericsson, Huawei, and Nokia in China, the EMEA region and across Asia Pacific.

“We were correct in our prior forecast estimate for total TRx shipments for 2017 with a 6% delta when compared with the actual estimates for each equipment vendor. This gives us more confidence that our forecast model and research methodology is working,” says Lum.

“Our current outlook for 2018 is moderately conservative based upon timing of 5G NR in the U.S. and NB-IoT upgrades in China. We forecast that microwave/mmwave TRx shipments for 5G NR will capture 49% of total TRx shipments in 2018 and will exceed 200 million units annually by 2022,” says Lum. ■