During the dot-com/internet bubble of the late 1990s and early 2000, the proliferation of many dot-com start-up companies created a secondary bubble in the telecommunications/computer networking infrastructure and telecommunications service provider markets. Venture capital and high tech companies rushed to build next generation infrastructure equipment for the expected explosion of internet traffic.
It has been estimated that dozens of start-up companies were created in the race to build the processors that would be a component of the next generation telecommunications equipment. Once the internet investment bubble burst, the telecom network upgrade cycle was deferred for years (perhaps for a decade). As a result, the majority of these new companies went bankrupt.
As of the midâÂÂ2020s, significant shipments of network processors are being made by major players such as Cisco Systems, Broadcom, Marvell Technology Group (which now includes Cavium Inc.), Intel Corporation, and Qualcomm Technologies.