Worldwide consumption of fiber-optic optoelectronic transmitter/receiver pairs used for communication applications reached $4 billion in 2001 but is expected to grow by an average rate of 39 percent over the next five years, to net 20.5 billion by 2006, claims a new report from ElectroniCast Corp. (San Mateo, CA).
"The global optoelectronic transmitter/receiver pair consumption is driven by a dramatic increase in bandwidth demand beyond the limits of copper," explains ElectroniCast president, Stephen Montgomery. Technological advances will bring fiber closer and closer to the end user, which will increase demand for shorter links where transmitter/receiver pairs represent a substantial share of the total installation cost.
North America led global consumption in 2001, capturing 45 percent of the market, or $1.79 billion. This number is expected to jump to $9.4 billion by 2006, driven by the proliferation of relatively short links used in private data and local loop networks. European optoelectronic consumption will account for 22 percent of the market in 2006, led by the European Union member states as they transition to open competition in the delivery of broadband services to business and residential customers. Japan/Pacific Rim is also expected to demonstrate strong growth, especially in China for expensive long-haul links.
"The fastest fiber-optic optoelectronics growth over the next five years will be in private data-communication networks, subscriber distribution, and military/aerospace applications," contends Montgomery. "In these markets, especially over the next five years, fiber optics must compete against the cost of unshielded and shielded twisted pair copper wire and coaxial cable, with the low-cost copper electronic terminations and connectors. These are applications initially dominated by low data rates up to 1 Gbit/sec and short to moderate length links (up to a few hundred meters)," he adds.
The new report, "Fiber Optic Optoelectronic Transmitter/Receiver Global Market Forecast," segments global fiber-optic optoelectronic transmitter/receiver pair consumption into major application categories, including telecommunications, private data networks, cable TV, and other (military/aerospace, specialty, and non-production). For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.electronicast.com.