A recently published report from industry analyst the Dell'Oro Group reveals that the 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch market grew substantially in the second quarter of 2006, following lacklustre results in the previous quarter.

The study indicates that the modular, or chassis, segment rebounded to drive most of the quarter's strong results.

Manufacturer revenues hit $302m at the end of June. Cisco led the pack, followed by Force10 and Foundry. Canadian vendor Nortel came in at number four, followed by Extreme at fifth and HP ProCurve in sixth.

"Not only did 10 Gigabit Ethernet port shipments increase dramatically during the quarter, but average selling prices rose resulting in extra strong revenue growth for this segment," said Seamus Crehan, senior director of Ethernet switch research at Dell'Oro Group.

"Although prices did increase during the quarter, we expect the general trend of steep declines to resume as vendors introduce higher port density line cards and fixed configuration products."