Strong bandwidth demand to drive optical fibre market

Research recently released by telecommunications analyst Ovum RHK suggests that the optical fibre components market will reach US$6 billion in 2012, pushed by demand across all voice and data sectors that will drive the market at 11% compounded annual growth rate.

The five-year forecast for WAN, datacom and access components states that demand is led by WAN optical components, projected to grow to US$3.5 billion in 2012, followed by datacom at $1.5 billion and access at $0.97 billion. The total demand for10 Gbps and 40 Gbps modules is expected to reach $1.6 billion and almost $900 million respectively. The 8 and 10 Gbps datacom transceivers are expected to be dominated by SFP+ form factor — making up over 70%.

“Bandwidth demand is strong in all segments of the market as carriers deploy new networks to support rapid growth in bandwidth intensive services,” said Daryl Inniss, vice-president at Ovum RHK. “The OC [optical component] suppliers are challenged with managing a torrid market appetite for new products. Fortunately the demand exists, but OC suppliers must ramp production, manage suppliers, contract manufacturers and inventory, and introduce new products to maximise revenues and margins.”