Worldwide optical spending reflects second-quarter uptick

Nov. 1, 2003

Worldwide optical-network hardware revenue hit $2.15 billion in the second quarter of this year, a 5% increase over the first quarter, reveals a new quarterly report from Infonetics Research (San Jose, CA). Principal analyst and company co-founder Michael Howard sees 2003 as the bottom of the optical hardware market, but "starting in 2004," he says, "we'll see quarter-over-quarter increases through at least 2006."

The market should total $8.6 billion this year, a decline from 2002, but will rise to $10.8 billion by 2006. "The economy is regaining strength in North America and in other regions, and carriers are starting to spend again," observes Howard. "Consumer broadband and corporate traffic continue to grow, roughly doubling each year. Mobile telephony and mobile data traffic are growing, supporting continued single-to-double-digit-percentage annual increases in revenue for nearly all metro categories and single-digit annual increases in long-haul categories beginning in 2005."

Metro CWDM reached $26.7 million in the second quarter of this year and is expected to jump to $243 million by 2006. Worldwide, metro SONET/SDH was "king of the hill," cites the report, capturing 53% of total optical-network hardware revenues—the market's $1.1 billion in the second quarter was slightly better than its first-quarter showing. Passive optical networking is forecast to double to $45.8 million by the first quarter of next year.

For more details on the report, "Optical Network Hardware," visit www.infonetics.com.