Amidst the reduced demand for wireless network equipment gear, Chinese companies Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp. recorded growth rates of more than 20 % in Q1 which is mainly attributed to the high demand for 3G network deployment in the Chinese market, reveals new findings from research firm, Dell’Oro.

Huawei in particular registered a 100 % increase in market share as compared to its performance last year thereby dislodging France-based Alcatel-Lucent from the number 3 rank in global network gear market. Huawei’s market share now stands at 15 %.

Ericsson meanwhile continues to hold its leadership position in the market and in fact widened the gap with nearest rival Nokia Siemens. Ericsson increased its market share by 1 % to 33 % as compared to 32 % a year ago.

Nokia Siemens market share slid by 3 % to 21 % while Alcatel-Lucent’s share came down from 16 % a year ago to 14 % now.

Nokia Siemens’ strategy of keeping a focus on profits and being selective about contracts may be at the cost of its market share, says Dell’Oro.

Nortel’s market share dropped to 4% as compared to 8% recorded over a year ago.

The research says that the ongoing slowdown and intense competition may result in price erosion of the wireless network market.