Speaking to RCR Wireless News, Rémy Pascal, practice leader, mobile infrastructure and RAN lead analyst at Omdia, said the main regional contributors to growth in the first half of the year were APAC excluding China, the Middle East and Africa (MEA), and Latin America
In sum – what to know:
Growth shifts outside China – APAC ex-China, MEA and Latin America are the main regional contributors to RAN growth, with 5G expansion, densification, and modernization supporting demand.
Market remains concentrated – Huawei leads global RAN revenue, while Ericsson leads outside China; the top five vendors account for approximately 95% of the global market.
Regional mix favors Huawei – Omdia expects little competitive change within individual regions over the next 12–18 months, but stronger emerging-market activity is benefiting Huawei.
The global RAN market remained concentrated among five major vendors in the first half of 2026, while growth in several emerging markets helped support the outlook for the full year, according to Omdia.
Speaking to RCR Wireless News, Rémy Pascal, practice leader, mobile infrastructure and RAN lead analyst at Omdia, said the main regional contributors to growth in the first half of the year were APAC excluding China, the Middle East and Africa (MEA), and Latin America.
Within Europe, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Poland, and the UK were identified as key contributors. In MEA, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, and the UAE were among the main contributors, while Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru were the leading contributors in Latin America.
Pascal also highlighted Bangladesh, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, and Thailand as important contributors in Asia & Oceania.
Omdia estimates that the global RAN market was approximately $17 billion in the first half of 2026, covering RAN hardware and software but excluding services. The analyst firm said year-on-year growth in APAC excluding China, Europe, MEA and Latin America resulted in single-digit percentage growth globally during the period.
For the full year, Omdia’s forecast remains almost unchanged, with a slightly more positive outlook and single-digit growth expected in markets outside China, largely offset by weaker performance in China.
Pascal said the growth outside China is being driven by several factors rather than a single trend. These include 5G deployments in late-adopter markets, 5G densification, and the addition of second or third 5G bands in markets that deployed the technology earlier.
Network modernization projects, vendor swaps, and fixed-wireless access deployments are also contributing in some markets. Pascal noted that vendor swaps are increasingly being driven by technology and commercial considerations rather than the replacement of high-risk vendors.
The competitive landscape remained highly concentrated during the first half of 2026. Huawei ranked first globally in RAN revenue, followed by Ericsson, Nokia, ZTE, and Samsung. The five largest vendors accounted for approximately 95% of the global RAN market, according to Omdia.
The ranking changes when China is excluded. Ericsson led the ex-China market, followed by Huawei, Nokia, Samsung, and ZTE.
Regional rankings also varied. Ericsson led in North America and Europe, while Huawei was the leading vendor in Asia & Oceania, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
Pascal does not expect the competitive balance within individual regions to change significantly over the next 12 to 18 months. However, he said changes in the regional mix can affect the global picture. “With more emerging markets in the mix, it has been recently benefiting Huawei, and this is likely to continue in the near future,” Pascal said.
