Optical network systems sales grow 10% in third quarter 2016: Cignal AI

Sales of optical network systems (including SONET/SDN, WDM, and submarine line terminal equipment) grew 10% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2016, according to a newly released report from Cignal AI. The good times were shared across all regions, according to the market research firm.

"The spectacular growth of 100G coherent WDM network deployment in China is the major story of 2016," explains Andrew Schmitt, lead analyst at Cignal AI. "We believe this growth will continue into 2017, though it will continue at a lower rate and will use different technologies and component vendors."

Spending on long-haul WDM gear in China grew a full 50% versus the same quarter a year ago. Meanwhile, domestic equipment vendors have new technologies and products on the way for deployment in 2017, according to the report.

"Outside of China, the 100G optical reboot is finally moving into the metro. Growth in metro WDM during the quarter outpaced long-haul WDM, as a multi-year cycle of spending in this area nears completion," adds Schmitt. "New, higher capacity data center interconnect platforms from Cisco, Coriant, and Fujitsu are a major catalyst for this transition, as is the availability of speeds beyond 100G."

Several optical systems vendors benefited from the upbeat quarter. For example, in North America, Ciena, Nokia, and ADVA Optical Networking all saw year-on-year growth, thanks in large part to success with cloud and colocation customers. Ciena and Nokia shipped record numbers of 200G-capable ports to these customers, Cignal AI notes.

Elsewhere, Cignal AI reports that Huawei and Infinera enjoyed significant upticks in business within the EMEA region. However, they were the only vendors to do so.

Cignal AI's quarterly "Optical Hardware" reports offer market share and forecasts for optical transport hardware used in fiber-optic networks worldwide. The reports analyze and quantify revenue and optical ports for metro WDM, long-haul WDM, and submarine line terminal equipment in six global regions. Cignal AI customers receive traditional Excel database and Powerpoint summaries as well as real-time news briefs.

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