Polycom (Nasdaq: PLCM) saw strong growth in the APAC videoconferencing equipment market in the fourth quarter, enough so that it swept past Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) to take a six percentage point lead for the year, according to new research.

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Synergy Research Group said Polycom controlled 34 percent of the market in the fourth quarter, enough to put it at 32 percent for the year; Cisco stood at 26 percent and Huawei and Sony were third and fourth in the region respectively.

Synergy said the APAC market grew by a third from 2010 to 2011, outpacing global growth by two percent. The company estimated the worldwide market at $3 billion.

Synergy founder and chief analyst Jeremy Duke said the growth in the videoconferencing and telepresence market is being driven by four main factors, reduced technology costs, maturing technology, a drive to reduce operating costs and a desire to increase the efficiency of executive-level management.

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