Although the economic downturn forced 2008 to have the slowest total global broadband CPE (customer-premises-equipment)-market growth this decade of 2.4% at 154 million units and will force 2009 to show even slower growth, researchers at In-Stat report that there are some bright spots to the segment.

According to the company, cable gateways, wireless and VOIP (voice-over-Internet Protocol) routers, and wireless and VOIP DSL (digital-subscriber-line)-CPE units continued to grow in at least the double digits. In addition, several segments of the broadband-CPE market, including cable gateways, FTTH (fiber-to-the-home) gateways, and FWB (fixed-wireless broadband), should grow considerably faster than the overall market over five years, In-Stat reports.

“Gigabit Ethernet, VOIP, the DSL Forum's TR-69, and 802.11n are all drivers for CPE upgrades and replacements,” says Joyce Putscher, In-Stat analyst. “We're also seeing accelerated growth in FTTH-CPE unit shipments in 2009.” According to In-Stat, VOIP-enabled DSL-CPE unit shipments saw healthy growth in 2008, and more than half of DSL-CPE unit shipments in 2009 will feature VOIP capabilities.