Switches are fundamentally very simple devices, with no intelligence of their own. The application of these simple devices with various kinds of intelligence added gives rise to the array of things that we often ambiguously refer to as "switches." We shall consider these devices beginning with TDM switches and ending with DACS, the least intelligent. Many would include routers in this listing, but those are treated separately in the mini-report on Routers.

While we will review various types of switches for background, this report is only concerned with forecasting the dominant types in today's market — IP and Ethernet switches. All forecasts will refer only to these two taken together.

The report provides market forecast for North American and World switches by market size and units.