EUGENE, OR--(Marketwire - March 7, 2011) - Despite modest growth in sales of optical networking equipment last year, the industry is well positioned for growth in 2011-2015, according to the latest forecast report released by LightCounting. Very strong demand for optical components and modules used in datacom and telecom networks is an early indication of the industry-wide recovery. Sales of optical transceivers and WSS modules increased by 30% in 2010, rebounding from an 11% decline posted in 2009.
While the datacom market segment started recovery in late 2009 - early 2010, growth in the telecom market has just started to accelerate in the second half of 2010. LightCounting forecasts that sales of optical interface modules employed in the datacom and telecom networks will increase by 10% and 15% in 2011, respectively, as total sales of these products will exceed $3 billion.
Sales of passive optical components, ROADMs, pump lasers and amplifiers increased well ahead of the total market for components and modules in 2010. This suggests that a new cycle in infrastructure upgrades may be starting now, since these devices are typically used in early stages of network installations.
"The industry is resuming steady growth that was interrupted by the economic recession of 2008-2009," commented Vladimir Kozlov, founder and CEO of LightCounting. "Plans for upgrades of networking infrastructure are being dusted off as economic recovery gains strength. Optical connectivity becomes essential across a wider range of networks including datacenters, enterprise and even wireless infrastructure as data transmission rates reach 10 Gbps. This technological transition will drive the industry growth for many years to come."
The forecast report presents analysis of infrastructure upgrades of top ten network operators, a summary of trends in networking equipment market and detailed analysis of the forecast for optical components and modules. Forecast database includes historical data from 2007 to 2010 and a detailed market forecast through 2015 for optical components and modules used in Ethernet, Fibre Channel, SONET/SDH, CWDM/DWDM, wireless infrastructure, FTTx, and high performance computing applications. The sales data for 2007 to 2010 account for more than 30 transceiver vendors, including 25 vendors that shared confidential sales data with LightCounting. The market forecast for 2011 to 2015 is based on LightCounting's model correlating transceiver sales with network traffic growth and projected subscribers of FTTx systems.
About LightCounting
LightCounting is a market research company focused on in-depth study of the optical communications market. Our research covers the whole supply chain including components, modules, systems, and their applications. Most of our analysis is based on confidential sales data provided exclusively to LightCounting by leading component and module suppliers.