So much drama in the SBC

September 14, 2007

1 Min Read
Acme Pans Rivals

5:20 PM -- I had a lunch meeting with Acme Packet Inc. (Nasdaq: APKT) CEO Andy Ory a few days ago, where he talked about some of his company's history and how it came to lead the market for session border controllers (SBCs).

For one thing, he claims, "We were the only organic SBC company," which gave Acme a competitive advantage. "There's no real innovation when you're copying what others are doing."

Competitors have failed to catch up, and Acme now holds upwards of 50 percent of the market for session controllers, according to some research firms. (See Acme Gains Ground.)

Ory expects Acme's strength in the segment to continue, due to disarray at all of his closest competitors.

"NexTone Communications Inc. fired their CEO just before NXTcomm, and they've had four CEOs in three years. Newport Networks plc (London: NNG) has run out of cash. And Kagoor Networks was end-of-lifed at Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR)," he says. (See NexTone Nixes Management, Newport Needs More Cash, Newport's NSN Hopes, and Juniper Kills Its Session Controllers.)

"So we feel really confident."

— Ryan Lawler, Reporter, Light Reading

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