Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), and Juniper powered different segments of the wireless LAN market to record heights in the second quarter, according to a recent report from Dell’Oro Group. However, geopolitical issues continue to bifurcate most of the world from China, where local vendors dominate.

The report found HPE’s Aruba unit and Juniper’s Mist contributed more than two-thirds of shipment growth during the quarter despite ongoing supply constraints. That growth combined with an average 10% increase in pricing compared to last year pushed the overall wireless LAN equipment market past $2 billion in the quarter.

“HPE and Juniper really pulled rabbits out of their hats this quarter  ̶  Aruba and Mist represent the majority of the growth in units shipped outside China,” Siân Morgan, wireless LAN research director at Dell’Oro Group, wrote in a statement.

Morgan noted that supply chain constraints are expected to continue for the next few quarters, though some vendors like Cisco have become more creative in putting together equipment.

“It’s like a game of whack-a-mole for the manufacturers. They’ll get their hands on one particular access point component and then another shortage will pop up,” Morgan wrote. “Cisco has promised shipments ‘en masse’ for enterprises, and all of the manufacturers are busy finding creative solutions: redesigning products, using brokerage firms, or bypassing component distributors.”

Cisco executives explained that the vendor was able to clear some of that backlog during the latest quarter by sourcing hard-to-find components through brokers, though that came at a cost.

“When you buy from the broker network you pay a premium for those, and you see that reflected in the gross margins,” CFO Scott Herren explained during Cisco’s latest earnings call, adding that impact will continue into Cisco’s new fiscal year.

That pricing premium is expected to continue to be passed on to enterprises moving forward.

“It’s very rare to see such a long stretch of quarters with year-over-year price increases,” Morgan explained. “It’s a combination of higher-end products being available, including the new Wi-Fi 6E technology, as well as a general move by the manufacturers to cover their escalating costs. Looking ahead we have to ask ourselves how long the market will bear these higher prices.”

Dell’Oro Group earlier this year noted that supply chain issues increased vendor backlogs by up to 15-times normal levels.

The latest report also found Cisco continued to dominate the cloud-managed access point market, though Juniper “grabbed an outsized market share in cloud-managed wireless LAN.”

The China market showed robust growth during the quarter despite ongoing trade constraints. Dell'Oro Group specifically cited Huawei and H3C as “pulling in strong quarters.”

Huawei’s founder Zhengfei Ren recently forecast a decade of global economic doom due to international wars and trade conflicts and urged employees to shift their focus from the pursuit of revenue and scale to profit and cash flow to make sure the company survives the crisis.