$4.4 billion in global broadband access equipment revenue in Q1 2026 marked a 2% year-over-year gain, though the market fell 8% from Q4 2025.
North American cable operators drove the uptick by resuming DAA purchases for DOCSIS 4.0 upgrades, after pausing spending in 2025 while waiting for platforms with the Unified DOCSIS 4.0 chipset.
Residential Wi-Fi 7 router shipments surged 73% from a year earlier as cheaper dual-band models shipped in China and Southeast Asia and US operators pulled forward orders for multi-gig service tiers.
PON spending also strengthened, with OLT port revenue up 6% year over year and Chinese vendors making first 50 Gbps PON OLT and ONT shipments across more than 150 pilot projects.
The mix points to a market shifting toward higher-capacity access networks and home gear, with US cable upgrades and Asian fiber deployments setting the near-term spending pace.