Week in research: ZTE leads in fiber CPE sales globally; IT execs 'confused' by unified communications

Broadband CPE competition is fierce: While ZTE is still struggling to find a foothold in North America, its presence in the rest of the world put it clearly in the lead among fiber-based broadband CPE (consumer premises equipment) vendors in Q3 2012 with 16 percent of the market, according to a new ABI Research study. Huawei held the second spot in the segment; however, it holds a clear lead in sales of fiber ONTs (optical network terminals). Cisco also continued its strong presence in the market, leading sales of cable-based CPEs. News release

Managed security stymied: Latin American businesses are beginning to realize that they need to guard against increasingly frequent and more complex cyber attacks, but the perception of managed security services (MSS) as money-losing propositions has hampered growth, says Frost & Sullivan in a new study. "This reactive demand has led MSS providers to focus on the chief targets of cyber attacks, especially the application, mobile, and cloud segments," said Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Bruno Tasco. "Nevertheless, basic services such as firewall and VPN will remain the most popular in the region, and penetration testing and assessment services will grow the fastest." The MSS market in the LatAm region saw revenues of $331.9 million in 2012, but should grow to $646.2 million by 2017. News release

UC's promise is unclear: While 75 percent of IT managers surveyed by MDS said they are considering a unified communications (UC) structure for their company, 61 percent of the respondents aren't sure how much value UC will bring to their business. Channel Partners Online reported that many IT buyers are confused about UC, meaning providers need to clarify their message to these customers. Article