The NAO market grew strongly in 2021, despite a change in the market leaders

The network automation and orchestration (NAO) market grew to USD9.5 billion in 2021, despite Huawei’s reduction in revenue. Nokia grew to become the largest vendor in the NAO space in terms of revenue (USD1.6 billion), while Ericsson took second place (USD1.4 billion). These market changes were due to both strong growth from Nokia and Ericsson and geopolitical factors that have limited Huawei’s ability to conduct business in certain countries. In this article, we give a broad perspective on NAO market drivers and vendor activity, and examine the market dynamics to help to inform players’ strategies.