ABI Research has declared Samsung Top Mobile WiMAX Base Station Vendor. Motorola and Alvarion claimed the second and third spots in the company's most recent evaluation of worldwide WiMAX base station vendors.

The Vendor Matrix is an analytical tool developed by ABI Research to provide a clear understanding of vendors' positions in specific markets. Vendors are assessed on the important parameters of "innovation" and "implementation" across several criteria unique to each vendor matrix.

"Samsung and Motorola have maintained the respective market leadership positions they established in our 2008 Matrix," comments research analyst Xavier Ortiz. "This year, they ranked very close to one another. Each has a decent amount of R&D invested in this area, as well as comprehensive 802.16 patent portfolios.

"Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Nortel, and Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) have all exited the market since 2008, for differing reasons. The result: Alvarion, previously ranked eighth, has risen to take third position as it has gained contracts, and partnered with some of the vendors who left the market. Huawei has also become a major player, when it wasn't even a significant part of the lineup two years ago, by gaining substantial business with Clearwire."

For this particular matrix, under "innovation," ABI Research examined the vendors' early product development for mobile WiMAX, their end-to-end telecom product offerings, and their intellectual property holdings for OFDMA, MIMO and beamforming. Other Innovation factors were the companies' demonstrated commitments to 802.16m, and the number of 802.16m trials under way.

Under "implementation," ABI Research scrutinized the following criteria: vendors' market share and major customer wins; the number of trials acquired; the degree of the vendors' focus on high-growth developing countries; and their partnerships with other companies in the mobile WiMAX ecosystem.

To view a chart showing the rankings of the "top ten" firms in this Vendor Matrix, visit Mobile WiMAX Base Station Vendor Matrix.