The Top 5 Best-Selling Router Brands In Q4 2017

Cisco Tops Again In Routers

Networking vendors are selling significantly fewer routers through the channel, according to new fourth-quarter 2017 data from The NPD Group, Port Washington, N.Y. The NPD Group tracks monthly technology sales-out information from the largest IT distributors and resellers in North America, down to the item level and with overlap removed.

The total number of routing units sold during the quarter was 206,199, down nearly 12 percent year over year, with only Google among the top-five market leaders posting unit sales growth compared to the same quarter one year ago. Here are the top five leaders by brand who sold the most routing units from October to December in 2017.

5. Google

Unit Share: 8.8 Percent

The Mountain View, Calif.-based internet giant is the only new vendor on NPD's best-selling routing list, selling a total of 18,068 units during the quarter. This is a monumental increase compared to the 13 total units it sold through the channel in the fourth quarter of 2016. Strong demand was generated by Google's GA3A00441-A14-Z duel band wireless router, a package of three routers aimed at the consumer market. The product was the second highest selling router in the market during the quarter.

4. Netgear

Unit Share: 12.5 Percent

The San Jose, Calif.-based networking specialist sold a total of 25,676 units during the quarter, down 14 percent year over year from 29,946 units. Netgear ranked fourth on NPD's list thanks to two products: its Nighthawk R8500-100NAS 6-Port, 802.11ac wireless router; and the WNDR4500-100NAS N900 4-Port, 802.11n wireless router. The two products were the six and seventh most sold routers during the quarter.

3. TP-Link

Unit Share: 14.8 Percent

TP-Link had the most popular router sold through distributors and resellers during the fourth quarter with its OnHub TGR1900 AC1900 1-Port, 802.11ac wireless router. Although the China-based vendor had the biggest selling router product in the quarter, the total number of router units sold dropped a whopping 36 percent, the biggest decline on this list. TP-Link sold a total of 30,497 units in the quarter, down from 48,130 year over year, resulting in a nearly 6 percent unit share drop.

2. CradlePoint Technology

Unit Share: 16.1 Percent

The innovative Boise, Idaho-based networking and software-defined WAN specialist took second place on NDP's list, with a total of 33,271 units sold during the quarter, down slightly from 35,921 units sold during the same quarter last year. Despite the sales decline CradlePoint's market share rose about 1 percent, capturing just over 16 percent of unit share. A total of four CradlePoint products cracked the top 10 for most sold routers during the quarter. The company's CBA850LP6-NA 2-Port Broadband Adapter with Power over Ethernet was the third-biggest selling router during the quarter.

1. Cisco

Unit Share: 24 Percent

The global network market leader continues to retain its position at the top of the router market, selling a total of 49,416 units during the quarter. Cisco Meraki Z1-HW-US 4-Port, 802.11n Wireless-N router was the fifth highest selling product in the market. The San Jose, Calif.-based networking giant saw a steep 13.6 percent decline in the overall number of router units sold year over year, however, after selling 57,210 in the fourth quarter 2016. Cisco's unit share also dropped slightly year over year from 24.5 percent to 24 percent.