LightCounting Says Transceiver Market Returns to Positive Growth

Sales Jumped 9% to a Record $526 Million in Q3 2007


EUGENE, OR--(Marketwire - December 17, 2007) - Sales of optical transceivers reached a record $526 million in the third quarter of 2007 and are likely to exceed $560 million in the remaining quarter, according to LightCounting, the premier transceiver research company. The LightCounting Transceiver Sales Report released today reported that the growth in Q3 2007 was primarily due to increased sales of DWDM modules and SONET/SDH transceivers, which both showed a 24% increase, respectively.

According to the author of the report and founder of LightCounting, Dr. Vladimir Kozlov, the industry's continued growth and support of technology advancement in lieu of developing new technologies are encouraging.

"Optical transceiver manufacturers faithfully supported the advancement of optical networking in 2007 by shipping close to 30 million modules in the first three quarters of this year," said Kozlov. "Vendors ramped production of OC-768 and SFP+ modules in response to the increasing demand for higher data rate and small form factor modules." Kozlov noted that suppliers of SONET/SDH transceivers were rewarded in Q3 2007 by a strong demand for their products despite advances of Ethernet and DWDM technologies in access and transport systems. "This was the best quarter for SONET/SDH transceiver vendors since Q1 2004, when sales increased by almost 50%," said Kozlov.

The transceiver market's return to growth comes as a welcomed relief after the steady growth during 2005 and 2006 of transceiver sales was temporarily interrupted by a 7% decline in the first quarter of 2007, followed by a flat second quarter. Profitability of optical transceiver manufacturing remains a challenge for vendors as the customer bases become increasingly more consolidated.

The report briefly discusses growth in emerging 40-Gbps and 100-Gbps markets and Carrier Ethernet deployment activity from the system vendors and carrier's perspectives, relative to the impact on transceiver sales.


About LightCounting

Providing visibility into the global transceiver market, LightCounting is the premier transceiver research company relied upon for accurate, detailed, and relevant transceiver market insight.

LightCounting's reports enable business executives, engineering, manufacturing, and sales/marketing professionals to plan business strategies using objective market information rather than speculative assumptions. Combining Semiannual Transceiver Sales Reports and Market Forecast Updates with Annual State of the Industry Reports and Technology Reviews, LightCounting is the optical transceiver market's information source.

Privately held, LightCounting is headquartered in Eugene, Oregon. For more information, visit the Company's website at www.LightCounting.com or call 408.962.4851.

To purchase the LightCounting December 2007 Forecast Report and any other research reports, contact Megan Andreosky, megan@lightcounting.com, info@lightcounting.com, www.lightcounting.com, LightCounting Phone: 408.962.4851.

Contact Information: Press Inquires: Shelli Ryan, APR Ad Hoc Communication Resources (for LightCounting) (402) 572-6510