AI helped drive Ethernet-switch buying in 2023, when worldwide market revenue rose 20.1% to $44.2 billion, according to IDC figures reported by Network World. That headline is historical, not a current market-size estimate: IDC later reported $18.9 billion in revenue for the second quarter of 2026, as datacenter demand accelerated and campus and branch upgrades continued.
What IDC reported about Ethernet switching in 2023
Network World’s March 13, 2024 article summarized IDC’s 2023 market findings. IDC put worldwide Ethernet-switch revenue at $44.2 billion, up 20.1% year over year. The figures cover revenue, not the number of switches shipped or installed. Network World’s report on IDC’s 2023 figures attributes the market’s growth to AI’s influence on network investment.
Datacenter Ethernet-switch revenue grew 13.6% in 2023, as enterprises and service providers built faster networks for AI workloads. Separately, revenue from 200GbE and 400GbE switches grew 68.9% for the full year. Those percentages describe different measures: the first is growth across the datacenter segment; the second is growth for the specified switch-speed categories.
Campus and branch switching followed a different pattern
IDC’s non-datacenter segment—which includes lower-speed switches commonly used in enterprise campuses and branches—grew 25.2% for 2023, then declined 1.9% in the fourth quarter. IDC attributed the annual increase in part to better component availability, which allowed vendors to fulfill backlogged orders. In the final quarter, new orders slowed while customers concentrated on implementing equipment already bought.
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How the market changed by 2026
Later IDC tracker updates show a much larger and faster-growing market than the 2023 headline alone suggests. For full-year 2025, IDC reported $55.1 billion in Ethernet-switch revenue, up 31.5% from 2024. Datacenter revenue grew 53.5% to $32.5 billion that year, while campus and branch revenue grew 9.1%. The annual totals provide context between the 2023 report and the 2026 quarterly figures; they should not be compared as though they cover the same time period. IDC’s tracker update and market figures
In the second quarter of 2026, worldwide Ethernet-switch revenue reached $18.9 billion, up 43.4% year over year. IDC reported $12.3 billion in datacenter revenue, up 64.5%, and $6.6 billion in campus and branch revenue, up 15.7%. These quarterly revenue figures do not establish equivalent increases in unit shipments: higher component costs and average selling prices can push revenue growth above shipment growth. IDC’s 2Q26 tracker update
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Why datacenter and campus growth differ
IDC links datacenter demand to the build-out of infrastructure for AI training and inferencing. Campus and branch spending has different drivers: refresh cycles, support for newer wireless standards such as Wi-Fi 7, higher-speed connectivity and AI-capable workloads. Component-price increases also contributed to campus and branch revenue growth, so that segment’s percentage change should not be read as a direct measure of how many more switches organizations bought.
Networking management software is another part of the campus story. IDC noted that vendors are adding AI capabilities to management platforms to improve operations. That is distinct from the AI computing infrastructure driving demand for high-speed datacenter switching.
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Why 800GbE is a major part of the AI network story
Port speeds are moving upward as large AI clusters demand more network capacity. In 2Q26, 800GbE represented 41.2% of datacenter Ethernet-switch revenue, compared with 35.9% in 1Q26, according to IDC’s later report. That is a share of segment revenue—not the proportion of installed ports. In the same quarter, 200GbE and 400GbE together represented 33.6% of datacenter revenue.
IDC also reported early demand signals for 1.6Tbps ports as hyperscalers plan future AI-cluster architectures. That points to an emerging requirement, not proof that 1.6Tbps switching is already a standard, large-scale deployment.
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Ethernet or InfiniBand? The market figures do not settle the choice
There is no single choice implied by IDC’s revenue totals. Ethernet and InfiniBand are distinct networking options, and the right fit depends on the specific cluster and its traffic, performance and integration requirements. A useful buyer comparison should account for:
- Deployment: whether the network is for a datacenter AI cluster or a campus or branch.
- Performance needs: required bandwidth and port speeds, plus latency and traffic patterns.
- Platform scope: whether the purchase includes only switches or also adapters, DPUs, optics and cables.
- Commercial constraints: budget, component availability, pricing and procurement timing.
- Operations: management, security, compatibility and refresh requirements.
A January 2025 infographic from IDC Custom Solutions, sponsored by Juniper, reproduced data from IDC’s 2024 Worldwide AI in Networking Special Report. It said 54% of organizations indicated substantial AI use or preparation to deploy Ethernet switches, while 46% indicated the same for InfiniBand switches. These are not exclusive market shares, and the figures should not be added together or treated as an eight-point preference margin. The survey is dated and sponsored; it is not a current, comprehensive measure of all buyers. The Juniper-sponsored infographic
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IDC’s 2Q26 figures identify Cisco as the overall Ethernet-switch market leader by revenue, with $5.4 billion and 28.7% of the total market. NVIDIA led the datacenter segment among branded vendors, with $2.5 billion and 20.4% of datacenter revenue. Arista held 13.4% of the overall market and 18.7% of datacenter revenue. These are IDC-reported revenue shares, not product-quality ratings or recommendations. IDC’s reported HPE switch revenue includes Juniper following HPE’s July 2025 acquisition. IDC’s vendor and segment figures
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IDC had also ranked NVIDIA first by branded-vendor datacenter Ethernet-switch revenue in 1Q26, reporting $2.1 billion and 21.5% of that segment. The 1Q26 and 2Q26 percentages should not be taken alone as proof of a sharp change in competitive position; the relevant conclusion from IDC’s 2Q26 report is that NVIDIA remained the leading branded vendor in datacenter Ethernet switching.
NVIDIA’s Spectrum-X illustrates why some AI-network purchases are broader than buying a standalone switch. IDC describes it as an integrated platform combining Spectrum Ethernet switches, BlueField DPUs and LinkX cables for large GPU clusters. Buyers comparing offerings need to distinguish such platform bundles from individual switching products.
What this means for buyers and the market
The most important takeaway is that “AI drives Ethernet switch buying” describes a market trend, not a universal procurement rule. AI infrastructure is a major driver of datacenter switching, while campus and branch upgrades have their own refresh, connectivity, software-management and cost dynamics. Revenue growth shows where spending is rising; by itself, it does not show shipment growth, prove which network technology will suit a particular workload, or identify the best switch for an organization.
IDC’s releases summarize tracker results rather than provide the full underlying dataset. Buyers who need detailed methodology, forecasts or product-level comparisons should consult the applicable tracker documentation and evaluate requirements for their own deployment.
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