How Big is the Asterisk Market, Really?

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Asterisk is hot, no doubt.  But how hot?  Recently I’ve been trying to wrap my head around useful Asterisk statistics in order to figure this question out.  However, I can’t find any analyst reports, or other market research that gives a definitive answer on how quickly they’re growing, and their current and forecasted market share. So, in the interests of figuring this out, I’ll share what I know, and in return, if you know something I don’t, either add it as a comment to this thread, or email it to me.  Perhaps we can figure it out together.

Here’s what I know:

Momentum: in January 2004, Mark Spencer reported 20,000 Asterisk installations globally.  In June 2005, he was saying 200,000.  In January of 2006 he said "over 250,000". 

Usage: On Sunday, I was chatting with Jeff Pulver. He told me that, right then, well over half of his FWD users online were using Asterisk.

Ecosystem: VoIP-info lists probably 200 companies who today will ship turnkey Asterisk solutions to customers — hardware, software and phones.  VoIP-info also lists many more consultants who will help you with an Asterisk system. 

Partners: There have been some prominent startups using Asterisk, such as Fonality.  Less visible, but probably more important, are Intel (working with Digium on incorporating drivers for their Dialogic products into Asterisk), Linksys (their new SME PBX, the SPA9000 uses Asterisk), and IBM (developing a fault tolerant Asterisk).

Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry make Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.

Tagged as: Asterisk, VoIP