5G MCN Growth Rate Stalled Out for the First Time, Declining 8 Percent in 2Q 2024
According to a recently published report from Dell’Oro Group, the trusted source for market information about the telecommunications, security, networks, and data center industries, the 2Q 2024 Mobile Core Network (MCN) market cratered 15 percent year-over-year (Y/Y), marking a historic low point in growth. The 5G MCN market growth stalled for the first time, declining 8 percent Y/Y in 2Q 2024.
“We have entered unchartered territory, indicating that economic headwinds have a firm grip on the market. It also strongly suggests that Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have excess capacity to meet subscriber growth numbers,” stated Dave Bolan, Research Director at Dell’Oro Group. “The China region dramatically impacted the MCN market’s lower Y/Y growth rate for the quarter. The Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) and North American regions were also depressed but not nearly as low as China. Only the Asia Pacific region, excluding China, had a positive Y/Y growth rate.
“The 5G MCN market was another driver for the market with new 5G SA networks being implemented. Unfortunately, the market has slowed to the point that 2Q 2024 was the first quarter of the 5G era, with a negative growth rate Y/Y. To date, there are about 58 MNOs that have launched commercial 5G SA eMMB networks. In 2022 there were 21 new 5G SA networks; in 2023, 13; and in the first half of 2024, three. As a result, we estimate that the MCN market will decline 11 percent Y/Y in 2024,” added Bolan.
Additional highlights from the 2Q 2024 Mobile Core Network and Multi-Access Edge Computing Report include:
- The remaining markets declined: the 4G MCN market (-29 percent Y/Y) and the VoLTE/VoNR market (-7 percent Y/Y) in 2Q 2024.
- As expected, the primary Chinese vendors (ZTE and Huawei) had the lowest MCN growth rates in 2Q 2024, followed by Nokia and Ericsson. These top four vendors accounted for more than 85 percent of the market.
- Vendor rankings remained the same for 2Q 2024: Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, and ZTE.
