Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei continue tight race for leadership in optical network hardware market

Boston, MASSACHUSETTS, May 17, 2010—Communications market research firm Infonetics Research (www.twitter.com/infonetics) released vendor market share from the first quarter 2010 (1Q10) edition of its Optical Network Hardware forecast report.

ANALYST NOTE

"On the heels of a strong fourth quarter, the first quarter of 2010 showed the typical seasonal decline we’ve come to expect. The big question is: what lies ahead for China and Europe, as both regions face rising uncertainty as 2010 progresses. Europe gave back all of the gains from 4Q09, and then some; Asian capex continues to lead with Huawei being the prime beneficiary," notes Andrew Schmitt, Infonetics Research’s directing analyst for optical.

OPTICAL MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

• Quarter-over-quarter, from 4Q09 to 1Q10, the worldwide optical network hardware market decreased 14% to $2.95 billion
• Asia Pacific is the only region that posted sequential growth in optical hardware revenue in 1Q10, up 4%
• Overall market leaders Huawei and Alcatel-Lucent have been within 2 market share points of each other for the past 6 quarters, taking turns in the lead
• Fujitsu and Cisco posted large market share gains in the rapidly growing packet-optical (P-OTS) market segment
• WDM spending was stronger than SONET/SDH in 1Q10, as service providers transition from risk-averse capital spending practices

REPORT SYNOPSIS

Infonetics’ quarterly optical report tracks Adtran, ADVA, Alcatel-Lucent, BTI, Ciena, Cisco, ECI, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Huawei, Infinera, NEC, Nokia Siemens Networks, Nortel, Sycamore, Tejas Networks, Tellabs, Transmode, Tyco, Xtera, ZTE, and others.

The report provides worldwide and regional market share, market size, forecasts through 2014, and analysis for metro and long haul optical network equipment, including SONET/SDH (ADMs and terminals, metro MSPPs and crossconnects), WDM (transport, ROADM, and long haul submarine line terminating equipment), and packet-optical transport systems (P-OTS).

The report also tracks the number of ports and revenue per port for WDM and SONET/SDH products by speed (Ethernet, SONET/SDH/POS, WDM), from below OC48/STM1 to 100G.

RELATED RESEARCH
See the OPTICAL area on Infonetics’ portal (http://www.infonetics.com/login), or follow the links below for report highlights and additional information:

• Carriers and enterprises gobbling up 10G, 40G, 100G ports to handle exploding traffic
• 10G/40G/100G optical transceivers to hit $1.44B by 2014, driven by SFP+ and tunable XFP
• Asia optical network hardware market resilient during recession, but slowdown looms
• Finisar takes lead from JDSU in ROADM component (WSS) market in 2H09
• Optical Network Hardware in EMEA: Europe, Middle East, and Africa
• Packet Optical Deployment Strategies: Global Service Provider Survey
• Optical Equipment Features and Vendor Ratings: Service Provider Survey
• 40G/100G Deployment Strategies: Global Service Provider Survey

SALES

• Larry Howard, Vice President: larry@infonetics.com, +1 (408) 583-3335
• Scott Coyne, Senior Account Director, Eastern North America, Europe, Middle East: scott@infonetics.com, +1 (408) 583-3395

Infonetics Research (www.infonetics.com) is an international market research and consulting firm serving the communications industry since 1990. A leader in defining and tracking emerging and established technologies in all world regions, Infonetics helps clients plan, strategize, and compete more effectively.

Follow Infonetics on Twitter for the latest headlines: http://twitter.com/infonetics.

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