An in-depth update on the changing state of optical line system and ROADM deployments.

Cignal AI presented at the OIF’s 448Gbps workshop. Here’s a summary.

Industry leaders are generally pessimistic about sustaining current growth.

Two Markets, Two Product Lines

CPO, 400G PAM-4, IPoDWDM with ZR, and copies of our show floor presentations.

OFC’s show floor programming once again reinforced the event’s status as the premier destination for expert-led content on the most pressing topics in the industry.

Two devices: the Lark 800 full retimed solution and the Lark 850 designed for Linear Receive Optics (LRO)

It is designed to integrate with XPU and switch silicon designs and includes both 32 Tbps and 64 Tbps versions

Coherent remains the only vendor of a dedicated 100ZR DSP and has now coupled it with a 0db optical front end.

Final report will be issued once all Chinese companies complete 4Q24 reporting.

OCS is designed to enhance scalability, performance, and efficiency of artificial intelligence clusters.

Join experts from Arista, Lumentum, Marvell, and Semtech as they discuss the latest advancements in 1.6T optical transceivers and ongoing efforts to enable 3.2T connectivity.

This first deployment uses an early release of Juniper’s JCO800 coherent optics in the PTX

A deeper look at the rates of adoption fueling a shift in hardware and component revenue

Carrier caution has resulted in underinvestment, and networks are now running “hot” enough to require upgrades and expansion.

Copper Replacement Remains the Killer Application

The state of the CPO market and outlook for future progress.

Nokia sees light at the end of the spending downturn tunnel, but Optical and Routing revenue remain at historically low levels.

Carrier caution has resulted in underinvestment, and networks are now running “hot” enough to require upgrades and expansion.

Datacom continues to grow, telecom turns the corner, and optical circuit switching finally gets a customer order.

Datacom revenue growth returns with the announcement of new transceiver customers, and telecom has finally turned the corner.

Business ticks up in North America as weakness persists in Japan. OpenROADM 400G is shipping, but the Ultra Optical System is seeing delays.

Two years into the AI boom, a look back at the vendors who benefited.

The inevitable technology that hasn’t happened – yet.

Coherent pluggable optics were responsible for all the telecom bandwidth growth in 2024, and will account for most of the future growth.

The number of venture-backed optical component startups has exploded – the Optical Component Start-Up Tracker identifies these companies and their value propositions.

Big ramp in 400ZR shipments, service provider orders outpace revenue for the first time in two years.

Compelling Usage in AI Applications Driving Widespread Adoption

In this update to our OCS report we cover more vendors and technologies, investigate more applications, and introduce a forecasting model.

AI Deployments Create Unprecedented Ramp in Datacom Optics

Hyperscale Operators Grow Hardware Spending 7%

Datacom revenue more than doubled for the second quarter in a row as AI demand for 400GbE and 800GbE modules continued unabated. Telecom revenue has emerged from the depths of its recent decline.

Optical spending by Cloud & Colo operators grew 7% worldwide, while spending by Service Providers declined -17%.

Join euNetworks, Ciena, and Coherent to learn how Open Line Systems allow service providers to meet the challenges of DCI and wavelength services.

This first deployment uses an early release of Juniper’s JCO800 coherent optics in the PTX

Optical sales fall -14%, but are buffered by strong sales to Cloud and Colo operators.

Insatiable AI demand propels Coherent’s revenue growth in Datacom while new optimism emerges for Telecom.

Revenue drops -15% YOY while Gen90P shipments continue at a rapid pace.

Lumentum called the Telecom market bottom and revenues shot up QoQ. Datacom revenues declined due to an expected pause from one customer.

OIF standardization initiatives resulted in the fastest ramping telecom technology in history and marked a turning point in the market from proprietary embedded WDM optics to interoperable pluggable coherent modules.

Service Provider sales continue to drop, but there are signs of an impending turnaround. 400ZRx optics show signs of success.

OCP24 was all about AI, and optics is an increasingly important part of the AI discussion.

Cignal AI is tracking announcements of Gen120 (120+ GBaud, 1+Tbps) optical trials and deployments.

Nvidia PAM-4 DSP, Ciena 2x 800G-LR, LPO Lives, 1600ZR slipping, L-Band ramping.

Routed Optical Networking Goes Mainstream at Cisco’s PONC 2024. Our thoughts on the customer testimonials, product and technology updates, and live demonstrations.

Examines the impact AI is having on the optical component supply chain.

The transceiver leverages the Coherent L-band 140 Gbaud IC-TROSA, and demonstrated at ECOC2024 in a Juniper PTX.

Cisco executive Bill Gartner highlighted a recent Cignal AI report in a note talking about the benefits and milestones of the company’s Routed Optical Networking (RON) architecture.

Gathering the Chinese perspective on vendors and technologies.

Record pluggable coherent shipments are not enough to reverse Telecom revenue weakness

Trends in operator spending, datacenter optics, and sanity checking the optics forecast for AI applications.

OIF standardization initiatives resulted in the fastest ramping telecom technology in history and marked a turning point in the market from proprietary embedded WDM optics to interoperable pluggable coherent modules.

Datacom revenue hit new records with a surge in 400GbE shipments and continued growth in 800GbE. Telecom’s only growth area is 400G coherent pluggables.

Join Google, Ciena, and Marvell to learn how pluggable coherent will play an even larger role with the introduction of 800ZR/ZR+ and how its improved performance enables both new service provider applications and a superior DCI solution.

Mentioned: Scott Wilkinson and the first interop of 800ZR modules.

Optical sales fall -18% as carrier inventories take longer to deplete than anticipated.

New CEO Jim Anderson outlined broad strategic goals as the company takes a more cautious view than Lumentum on the potential for Telecom revenue growth.

Lumentum signals the bottom for Telecom and a stall in Datacom revenue through next quarter due to a previously disclosed product transition.

Optical sales fall -18% as carrier inventories take longer to deplete than anticipated.

Nokia announced its intention to acquire competitor Infinera and shed its ASN subsidiary. Optical sales fell -23%.

Cloud Operators Drive Adoption of Converged Architecture

IP-over-DWDM deployments of 400/800/1600ZRx optics and adoption across market segments

The current state of the art in OCSs, the players, why it matters today, and forecasts for the future.

Sales were down in 2Q due to inventory absorption at North American carriers, and a pause in Cloud spending.

The combination creates a company with an enviable regional balance, providing a buffer from regional geopolitical and economic instability.

Uncovering who uses which DSP, and which DSP vendors ship the most volume.

Revenue drops -26%, but the company highlights a huge pipeline of potential business.

400 and 800GbE module shipments jump more than 25% QoQ

Datacom revenue and shipments of 400GbE & 800GbE modules hit new records as Telecom struggles to recover.

Ex-China, revenue drops as service provider spending continues to stall.

The company has been an innovator in Compact Modular transport hardware for more than 20 years.

Excluding Growth in China, Sales Declined 21%

Optical hardware sales shake off a depressed 2023; Acacia 400ZR shipments resume growth

Ex-China, revenue drops as service provider spending continues to stall.

800G accelerates Datacom revenue growth while lead times shorten.

Join Cisco, Colt, and Telefonica to learn how operators can deliver more capacity from a smaller network footprint with reduced power consumption and operational complexity.

Datacom is the only highlight this quarter, but it’s a very bright one. The wait for a Telecom turnaround will be a bit longer.

Nokia’s optical sales fell -40% YoY as Service Providers tapped the spending brakes worldwide.

Ciena leverages relationships with hyperscalers to push into Europe.

Mentioned: Kyle Hollasch’s thoughts on OFC 2024.

This report provides historical information, industry context, and product examples of our classification of Compact Modular systems.

Coherent optics growth is healthy but Telecom component market remains in doldrums

Telecom revenue has hit the bottom as overwhelming 800GbE demand raises Datacom revenue and shipments.

This report tracks the component suppliers that enable the 400GbE+ Datacom Transceiver ecosystem. It includes an overview of the types of transceivers employed, the key components that are used in those transceivers, and which vendors supply those components.

This is a summary of how OFC 2024 and the conversations we had there shaped our thoughts.

Trends in operator spending, datacenter optics, and sanity checking the optics forecast for AI applications.

Mentioned: Scott Wilkinson on 800ZR pluggables volumes

Mentioned: Scott Wilkinson on Gen 120P market growth

Mentioned: Scott Wilkinson on interoperable PCS and 800ZR

Driven by sales to Cloud operators, full year 2023 revenue came in at a record $1.3B.

Mentioned: Kyle Hollasch on Ribbon’s announced interop testing with Cisco

Mentioned: Scott Wilkinson on the 1.6Tbs client optics market.

Cloud Spending on Optical Transport Jumps 46% in 4Q23, Traditional Service Provider Spending Remains Weak

Providing an update to our 1Q23 vendor summary and updating AOI’s quarterly results for 4Q23.

Key themes to watch – AI, 800G, and everything else

Traditional Service Provider Spending Remains Weak

The market slides ex-china as service provider spending stalls.

Revenues continue to be in the doldrums and the slowdown is expected to continue for a couple of quarters before growth returns.

Coherent calls the bottom in the Telecom optical components market while capitalizing on the AI-fueled Datacom boom.

Optical and routing results point to growing weakness in North American carrier capex.

Does the higher performance offered by coherent optics offer a compelling use case inside the datacenter?

Mentioned: Andrew Schmitt on the success of the OIF in pluggable coherent applications

Sales to Cloud operators powered $3B in optical revenue for 2023.

The price of bandwidth ($/Gbps) has declined consistently every year except 2021. In this updated report, we analyze the most recent data to determine if the trend is continuing.

Worldwide DWDM deployed bandwidth declined YoY for the first time.

Datacom revenues are recovering from the Q1 drop and are poised to explode along with 800GbE shipments in 2024. Telecom revenue continues to lag, as deployed bandwidth declined YoY for the first time this quarter.

The optical market grew 4% – cloud operators continue to invest in transport and vendors are still shipping against large backlogs.

Coherent’s revenue declined in all segments, but the company’s forecast for a return to growth in 2024 remains unchanged.

Pluggable coherent optics are changing how networks are built. Learn how to leverage this technology to fit your requirements.

Mentioned: Scott Wilkinson and Credo’s new half-retimed 800G DSP

It’s all about the future for Lumentum, with a strong backlog and the incorporation of Cloud Light expected to drive increased revenues into 2024.

The optical market grew 4% – cloud operators continue to invest in transport and vendors are still shipping against large backlogs.

On November 7, Lumentum announced its acquisition of optical component manufacturer Cloud Light for approximately $750 million. This move marked an unexpected return to the datacom transceiver market for Lumentum, which sold its business in 2019 to CIG.

Fujitsu faces headwinds as weakness in Japan combines with the end of fronthaul sales in NA. Can the 1FINITY Ultra Optical System help it break into new markets?

Optical and routing point to growing weakness in North American carrier Capex.

The “AI Emergency”, LPO vs. CPO optics, and pushing the scaling limits of AI computing.

Nokia and Ericsson see no turnaround for telco capex, and no killer 5G app

800ZR, debate on Linear Pluggable Optics and IPoDWDM, and progress in 200G/lane modules

Optical revenue grew 27% as its large backlog is turned into revenue.

The Era of Pluggable Coherent – Don’t Bet Against IM-DD – What Does 3.2T look like?

IP is Eating the World | Coherent Marches On | Crossing the Chasm | IP-over-DWDM Impact

Mentioned: Scott Wilkinson interviewed about the in depth report on Linear Drive optics.

Datacom revenue and module shipments plummeted as inventory adjustment hit hard this quarter.

Bandwidth growth and compact modular sales slow as Hyperscalers take their foot off the gas.

Lackluster performance and a lowered forecast overshadowed optimism about revenue growth.

Optical sales slowed due to inventory absorption and macroeconomic concerns, but routing sales continued to grow.

IPoDWDM represents a $1.6B Opportunity by 2026

Despite strength in ROADM sales this quarter, Lumentum’s revenue declined sharply across all segments and the company does not anticipate recovery until 2024.

40% of Coherent Modules deployed in 2026 will displace traditional transponders.

Fabrinet gets a big, legit, AI tailwind

Mentioned: Scott Wilkinson and Marvell’s 800ZR DSP and module announcements.

Lumentum and Coherent see no Telecom turnaround until 2024, Cisco talks AI.

Mentioned: Scott Wilkinson and the Linear Drive report

Network Operators Absorb Inventory and Pause Orders

Supply chains loosen up and revenue ramps, some service providers express hesitation.

Infinera and Viavi think a turnaround in demand is imminent.

Promise of Power Reduction but Challenges Will Limit Deployment

Examines the benefits and challenges of Linear Drive and provides a preliminary assessment of its impact.

Arista acknowledges webscale weakness, AOI books $300M+ Microsoft contract

Nokia’s optical business continues to grow but routing sales abruptly pull back.

Companies indicate hyperscale and service provider weakness will persist through the rest of the year.

AI demand at TSMC is insufficient to offset weakness across all its other businesses.

Despite is relatively small size, Ribbon offers a complete IP/optical solution and is a challenger for Tier 1 business.

AOI made news recently with its intention to sell its Chinese manufacturing facilities and partnership with Microsoft for laser development.

France-based Ekinops has grown rapidly on a reputation for customer attentiveness and product focus.

The best technical customer conference is back up and running.

The Bandwidth Must Flow: Up 39% YoY

Mentioned: Kyle Hollasch at NGON 2023

Datacom revenue and module shipments plummeted as inventory adjustment hit hard this quarter.

North American Cloud operators were the growth engine for optical and packet transport sales.

Observations on IP over DWDM and the Optical Edge

The A.I. messaging was strong but datacenter revenue appears to be bottoming.

Download the Slides

Supply chains loosen up and revenue ramps, some service providers express hesitation.

Inputs, Assumptions, and Feedback

The last bastion of optimism in optical components has reported revenue well below guidance as inventory absorption affects the entire industry.

Revenue tumbled across the board as customers adjust inventory.

Big weakness at the largest vendors of Telecom components

Nokia’s optical and routing businesses post record quarters.

Arista gets cautious and MACOM sees optical module demand plunge

Service provider spending remains solid while cloud operators look shaky.

Good wireline results from Nokia and Calix but Mobile capex is tepid

Datacom and Telecom revenue was up for the year, but headwinds are pushing down forecasts for both revenue and shipments in the first part of 2023.

How unique is WaveRouter, and does it live up to its lofty expectations?

Uncovering who uses which DSP, and which DSP vendors ship the most volume.

Ciena’s revenue resumed growth as supply chain problems eased and it began shipping against massive backlog.

Mentioned: Scott Wilkinson by Effect Photonics on building the 100ZR supply chain.

The Optical Components report is expected to release in mid-April. In the meantime, this interim report provides an overview of how quarterly results are trending.

Gen60C shipments slow, ROADM shipments in line with hardware as supply chain issues resolve

North American Cloud operators were the growth engine for optical and packet transport sales.

Key technology takeaways from OFC 2023.

Broadcom and Marvell provide radically different revenue outlooks

Phil Harvey Interviews Scott Wilkinson about pluggable coherent at OFC 2023.

Download the slides from our OFC2023 presentations

Optical and routing sales declined on weakness in Europe and China.

Ongoing inventory absorption and supply chain issues depress Lumentum’s datacom revenues, while telecom revenues return to growth.

Mentioned: Andrew Schmitt on Coherent’s first 100ZR demo

Nvidia and Infinera provide more positive sentiment for cloud spending

The latest 120+ GBaud coherent technology is arriving.

Will Provide the Greater Uplink Bandwidth Needed for Access Network Upgrades

An in-depth look at the catalysts, potential, and outcome of the 100ZR market.

Fabrinet signals 400G shortfall, different outlooks from Coherent and Lumentum

Nokia’s optical and routing businesses post record quarters.

Coherent posted a very strong quarter with double-digit gains in both Telecom and Datacom as the company sees no slowdown in demand for optical components.

Mentioned: Kyle Hollasch on Nokia’s new PSE-6 coherent solution

Cignal AI presented at NANOG and came away with unique perspectives from an often under-represented networking segment.

Fabrinet signals 400G shortfall, different outlooks from Coherent and Lumentum

Will 400ZR and its variants usher in the long-awaited era of IP-over-DWDM? 

Cloud capex outlook for 2023 summarized

It has been two years since a new high-performance coherent optical generation was commercially introduced and it’s time for new generation announcements. Expect to hear more about Gen120P at OFC23.

Microsoft keeps its foot on the capex gas, Intel exits Ethernet switching.

OFC23 will offer an opportunity to see how much further and faster direct detect optics will take communications inside the data center

Mentioned: Scott Wilkinson on new hardware from Ekinops

Smartoptics is a small but rapidly growing company riding the wave of open networking, disaggregation, and IP-over-DWDM.

400GbE Optical Module Unit Shipments up 50%

400GbE shipments recovered from last quarter’s dip leading to a strong revenue quarter for Datacom. Telecom optical component revenue grew as more than 61k Gen60C modules shipped in the quarter.

Ciena’s revenue declines again, but growth is on the horizon as its supply chain problems improve.

Fresh insights on Marvell’s current and future plans for optical networking.

Gen60C modules drive coherent bandwidth growth this quarter while Compact Modular and ROADM equipment sales outperform.

North American Cloud operators were the growth engine for optical and packet transport sales, supply chains remained strained.

Optical sales declined due to supply chain and currency effects, while routing hardware sales continue to grow.

Mentioned: Kyle Hollasch on Ciena’s acquisition of Tibit and Benu

Product revenue jumps 20%, while ICE6 shipments accelerate.

Coherent’s Datacom sales grew more than 10% this quarter and in contrast to Lumentum’s more pessimistic outlook. the company was optimistic about future datacom sales.

Lumentum’s Telecom revenue grew dramatically thanks to recent acquisitions, while Datacom is entering a difficult couple of quarters.

Nokia’s routing and optical businesses are weathering a downturn in EMEA with increasing success in North America and RoAPAC.

Introduces a new, high capacity aggregation router to address emerging metro requirements.

Mentioned: Kyle Hollasch on Smartoptics IP-over-DWDM initiatives

Understanding the next wave of 100Gbps and 200Gbps PAM4-based modules

Mentioned: Scott Wilkinson’s thoughts on ECOC 2022

Optical revenue declined -21% due to unexpected supply chain problems.

Big news coming next year on 1.6T client optics, 200GBaud technology, and a bevy of new coherent DSPs

Mentioned: Scott Wilkinson on Innolight’s new 100ZR module

Mentioned: Andrew Schmitt on Source Photonics ECOC award

Market Focus Slides Available for Download

Pluggable 400Gbps optics continues to drive Telecom bandwidth as operators migrate away from lower speeds. Datacom component shipment growth slowed this quarter, but revenue for Datacom is still growing faster than in any other optical segment.

Mentioned: Kyle Hollasch contributes to SubTel Forum Magazine

Coherent bandwidth growth remains muted outside of 400ZR

Learn How Network Operators Will Build and Deploy Coherent Technology In Access Networks

II-VI acquires Coherent and releases a new coherent DSP during a quarter of growth.

North American Cloud operators were the growth engine for optical and packet transport sales, supply chains remained strained.

Optical and Packet Transport Spending Weaker in EMEA and Asia

North American Cloud operators were again the growth engine for optical and packet transport sales

Product revenue jumps 13%, while ICE6 shipments are flat.

Lumentum completed its acquisition of Neophotonics and acquired IPG’s module business, moves signaling increased focus on the telecom module market.

Battling supply chain constraints and currency fluctuations, Nokia’s optical and packet businesses maintain flat YoY growth.

Cisco Packet Optical Networking Conference advanced the RON strategy.

Ciena grows packet revenue 72% and WaveLogic port shipments recover. But annual guidance is lowered due to persistent supply chain concerns.

These companies announced a collaboration on QSFP28 100ZR modules. This report is Cignal AI’s analysis of that announcement and its implications.

Cignal AI revisits our Coherent Pricing Trends report from 2019 and provides an update based on recent technology advances.

Mentioned: Kyle Hollasch on Cisco’s Routed Optical Networking Architecture

It’s all about the supply chain again this quarter, but signs point to gains in the second half of the year. 400GbE datacenter optics and 400Gbps pluggable telecom optics are driving their respective segments.

Coherent bandwidth growth returns to historical levels & ROADM coverage initiated.

First-quarter 2022 worldwide optical hardware spending increased 2.5% YoY, while packet gained 2%. North America led growth in both categories.

Marvell reported strong datacenter DSP growth and reached the milestone of 100k units shipped of coherent Gen60C DSPs, indicating a healthy market for high-speed optics.

Optical revenue from cloud operators continues to grow while Acacia leads Gen60 market share categories in 1Q22.

First-quarter 2022 North American optical and packet sales continue to rebound despite supply-chain constraints. Excluding NA, both hardware categories declined in 1Q22.

Mentioned: Scott Wilkinson on Marvell shipping 100k 400G coherent DSPs.

Despite significant supply chain pressures, II-VI posted positive results for the quarter and highlighted better results in the second half of the year.

Stung by supply chain difficulties, Nokia’s optical business declined, while packet continued to outperform.

Despite another quarter of revenue declines, Lumentum is more optimistic about double-digit revenue growth in the second half of 2022 and throughout 2023.

Record company revenue. North America rebounds. Price hikes will take effect in second half ’22

Cignal AI has updated forecasts for coherent ports in the Transport Applications Report.

The Transport Application Report now includes ROADM & line system deployment data

Almost 2M 400GbE Transceivers Shipped for Datacenter Applications

Ciena grows hardware revenue 9% and lays the foundation for double-digit growth in 2022.

This inaugural report commences Cignal AI’s complete coverage of Optical Components, including both revenue and detailed component shipments.

Pluggable Coherent shipment volumes are expected to triple in 2022

400ZRx Pluggable shipments surge while lower cloud spending holds back Compact Modular in North America.

Key technology takeaways from OFC 2022.

Phil Harvey Interviews Andrew Schmitt at OFC 2022

Fourth-quarter 2021 worldwide optical hardware spending increased 3.5% YoY. Declines centered in APAC for the second consecutive quarter, while all other regions grew YoY.

Mentioned: Scott Wilkinson on the OIF’s role in the success of 400ZR

Slides available

Mentioned: Kyle Hollasch on Nokia IP over DWDM demo

Quarterly and annual revenue hit records while ICE6 shipments double.

Pluggable coherent deployments are underway. Learn how this powerful technology is transforming network architecture.

Here is a sneak peek of the hot topics of discussion at OFC 2022

Nokia’s packet and optical businesses performed well in North America while slowing in traditional stronghold EMEA.

Optical component revenue was down slightly for the quarter, but strong Datacom results and indicators of future growth are grounds for optimism.

Fujitsu’s North American revenues finally returned to growth as wireless fronthaul and compact modular revenue grew.

Although Lumentum posted revenue declines in both Telecom and Datacom, segments the company is optimistic about long-term growth in the two markets.

Ciena has a record revenue quarter – and record backlog as supply chain challenges continue.

Cloud operator and traditional telco spending leads rebound in North America

Marvell’s Industry Analyst Day provided excellent insight into the company’s views on the roadmaps for intra-datacenter and pluggable coherent optics.

Compact Modular equipment sales continued to surge while Chinese coherent port shipments stalled.

Initial Optical Components report, in Beta – for access to the report, please contact [email protected].

Metro forecasts cut as historical growth rate of 6% is expected to flatten by 2023

Mentioned: Scott Wilkinson on Marvell and OE solutions announcement.

Optical forecasts were reduced by $1.1B worldwide in 2025 due to a shift of coherent optics into router-based DCO’s.

ICE6 ships in volume, but supply chain challenges keep revenue flat.

Despite supply chain issues, II-VI expects revenue growth in optical communications and consumer components.

How will the adoption of 400ZR and ZR+ pluggable coherent modules impact Metro WDM equipment spending?

Lumentum’s revenue above guidance was overshadowed by the announcement to purchase Neophotonics.

Cignal AI’s observations on the proposed merger.

Nokia’s optical business declined against an elevated 3Q20, while packet sales continued their steady growth.

Learn How High-Performance Coherent Pluggables Can Address a Broad Set of Network Applications

The historical classification of coherent optical technology (Gen1, Gen2, etc.) is no longer sufficient. Therefore, Cignal AI will now recognize and classify coherent DSP technology by its maximum baud rate and whether the DSP is optimized for Performance or Compact applications.

Compact modular sales again outperformed the overall optical hardware market while Packet-OTN sales declined. 400ZR is shipping but is supply limited.

Development moves past 90+ GBaud directly to 120+

Mentioned: Scott Wilkinson on Acacia’s new product announcement

Ciena starts out the second half of 2021 strong, but supply chain headwinds threaten further growth.

Optical spending by North American Traditional Telco carriers declined YoY; Cloud & Colo optical spending worldwide slowed as NA spending stalled.

Long-Haul WDM Spending Mix Reaches Record Levels

Mentioned: ADTRAN and ADVA have announced a merger

First-quarter 2021 worldwide optical hardware spending was down slightly YoY, Chinese optical hardware spending was down significantly.

It was a big quarter for 600G coherent port shipments and sales to Cloud Operators.

Consistent worldwide results and a new effort to close the coherent gap with DCOs.

More ICE6 trials and wins as Infinera now ships for revenue; 600bps port shipments rebound.

Record Q2 profitability – Sales hit by 10% due to supply chain issues – EMEA continues to rebound

Nearly 5 years after the project’s inception, AT&T disclosed it has deployed OpenROADM-based networks across a dozen US metros.

After years of anticipation, 400G pluggable digital coherent optics (DCO) will finally achieve general availability and initial deployment in 2021.

400Gbps+ port shipments doubled YoY, 400ZR ports started to ship, and compact modular sales significantly outperformed the overall optical hardware market this quarter.

Quick thoughts on equipment spending trends as well as a current view on the role of pluggable coherent modules.

Several vendors are shipping 800Gbps capable coherent optical solutions, and now the industry must consider the next steps in development.

Ciena is well-positioned to return to growth in the second half of 2021 as multiple factors align in its favor. 

Co-packaged optics (CPO) moved from hero experiments to discussions of commercial roadmaps this year. In this update from OFC21, we cover the key points about CPO discussed at the show.

Cignal AI continues to track announcements of 5th generation (800Gbps-capable, 90+ GBaud) optical trials and deployments.

Optical spending by North American Traditional Telco carriers declined steeply YoY compared to a heavily frontloaded 1Q20, but show signs of longer term recovery. Cloud & Colo optical spending worldwide slowed as NA spending stalled in 2020 and APAC is just beginning to take off.

Marvell, in conjunction with newly closed acquisition Inphi, announced it’s latest generation 400ZR DSP – Deneb.

Addition Brings Unique Perspective and Expands Firm’s Research Coverage

In conjunction with OFC, Cisco published a note quantifying the total volume of coherent ports shipped with Acacia and Cisco technologies combined.

Long Term Chinese Capex Growth Trend Slows

First quarter optical spending was down compared to the Covid-impacted 1Q20. Packet transport sales, which suffered a year ago from operational issues, increased sharply.

Infinera provided new details on ICE6, XR Optics, Groove Compact Modular, and opportunities to displace Huawei.

In a video produced by OFC, Scott Wilkinson previews the important topics expected during OFC 2021 such as embedded optics and fifth-generation coherent & pluggable optics.

Exceptional optical and packet hardware sales. Significant wins, despite delays in next generation coherent optical technology, will provide momentum for the year.

ICE6 is shipping to customers, while 600Gbps port shipments grow and support for 400Gbps pluggable optics is added to existing systems.

TeliaCarrier’s plans for deploying 400ZR and growing its network post-COVID

Record Revenue and Orders – North America Rebound Coming – Components Become 10% of Business During Next Three Years

Chinese webscale operator Tencent has been developing its own white box for optical transport. In this report we provide more details of Tencent’s work, including its adoption of CFP2 400Gbps optics.

Compact Modular sales (and hence disaggregation) have historically lagged in APAC versus the rest of the world, so APAC’s sudden and extraordinary growth over the past few quarters means that something has changed and deserves a closer look.

Ciena Accounts for Nearly Half of 3rd and 5th Gen Coherent Ports

4Q20 Compact Modular sales significantly outperformed the overall optical market, as APAC sales more than doubled and surpassed EMEA sales for the first time. 400ZR forecasts for 2022 and beyond were increased based on growing operator interest.

But a return to Growth in NA is expected in 2H21. Exceptional 4Q APAC Cloud & Colo Operator Spending.

Inphi announced that the development of its 400ZR module is complete and that the products have reached production availability.

Ciena’s revenue decline this quarter was steeper than our forecast, but the company is poised to grow revenues based on the success of its WaveLogic 5e 5th generation coherent technology.

North American Traditional Telco spending on optical and packet hardware declined significantly in the 4th quarter, due to a dramatic reshuffling of capex spurred by the pandemic during the first half of 2020. Meanwhile, APAC Cloud & Colo spending exploded. Long term, hardware sales in all markets are predicted to return to growth in the second half of 2021.

North American optical and packet transport spending plummeted in North America as Tier 1s concentrated COVID-related capex in the first half of the year.

Infinera originally expected its ICE6 technology to enter the market in the second half of 2020. The company’s current guidance now indicates a 2H21 arrival. Infinera reports a strong order pipeline but has not specified exactly when the first ICE6 will ship for revenue.

Purchases of optical and packet transport hardware dropped sharply in the fourth quarter as operators exhausted capex earlier in the year.

Windstream announced it performed a field trial of Acacia 400ZR+ modules in Cisco compact modular equipment. This is a notable event because it is the first public trial of extended reach 4th gen pluggable coherent 400ZR+ modules and the first demonstration of 400ZR+ modules using the larger CFP2 format.

Nokia fared better than its largest competitors in 2020 as it ended the year flat YoY but carrying significant momentum – especially in routing – as it heads into 2021.

Juniper exceeded expectations in 2020, a notable feat as the overall market was difficult for switching and routing. Much of the company’s success comes from its recently diversified customer base away from Tier 1 concentration.

Cisco’s transport product line had a tough 2020 as the company introduced new products in the middle of a pandemic. Sales also declined sharply in Q4, reflecting a slowdown in the NA market.

Fujitsu’s revenues shifted from NA to Japan in 2020 as legacy platform revenue has declined. However, the company’s compact modular strategy is taking off in Japan and will grow in NA in 2021.

This report provides a summary of Cignal AI’s current outlook for the year. Creating forecasts for 2020 was uniquely challenging and forecasting the expected return to normal by the end of 2021 is also very complex.

Expenditures by North American cloud and colocation operators on optical and packet transport equipment declined 20 percent year over year in the third quarter of 2020 (3Q20), while incumbent operator spending increased 2 percent.

Global compact modular revenue grew 24 percent in the third quarter of 2020 (3Q20) over the prior year, versus just 7 percent for the total optical market.

Get ready for the 2021 rollout with commentary from Inphi, Arista, and Microsoft on evaluation results and plans for rolling out 400ZR in 2021.

Ciena’s sales declined last quarter, primarily due to weakness in NA optical sales. Gen5 coherent (800Gbps-capable) port shipments topped 3600 shipped to date.

Lightreading covered an announcement by Telia Carrier that it was one of the first major network operators to use pluggable 400ZR and OpenZR+ coherent modules.

Compact modular sales grew much faster than the optical market overall, with significant growth in APAC this quarter. 400ZR and ZR+ modules began sampling with several hundred modules shipped for evaluation.

OIF members participated in a ten-week long interoperability testing exercise in Telefonica’s Madrid lab in order to conduct a multi-vendor demonstration within Telefonica’s network with participation from China Telecom and TELUS.

North America transport hardware spending growth shifted dramatically this quarter from Cloud & Colo operators to Incumbents. APAC Cloud & Colo optical sales grew again.

European operators resumed purchases of optical and packet transport hardware in 3Q20 as COVID-related supply chain and operational delays eased.

Third quarter results were better than forecast, especially in EMEA where both optical and packet hardware spending increased. North America spending declined while China spending was flat and Japan spending growth continued unabated.

Cisco’s results and forecast this quarter were more optimistic than last quarter. Optical and packet sales slowed, but an uptick at the end of the quarter hinted at a better than expected finish for the year.

Nokia had an extraordinary Q3, with overall growth significantly higher than the market. Much of this growth came from Q2’s delayed sales.

Infinera’s optical and packet sales grew in Q3 and the company set expectations for continued growth in Q4, running counter to earlier industry forecasts of a slowdown in the second half.

Juniper defied forecasts of a flat to down second half of 2020 by posting one of its best growth quarters in recent history in Q3.

Explore a New Era of open Transport Networking. Hear Infinera & Telefonica’s Perspective on defining and delivering open optical networking.

The diverse requirements of 5G require both the radios and the network supporting the radios to be updated. This report covers advances in 5G packet fronthaul and includes an overview of existing vendor solutions.

Acacia announced further enhancements to its 100G coherent pluggable product line targetted at edge and access applications.

Fourth-generation coherent will extend beyond 400ZR to include higher performance solutions generally referred to as 400ZR+ and lower speed 100Gbps (100ZR) targeted at the metro edge.

Cloud & Colo optical spending in North America cooled while spending in APAC was unexpectedly strong this quarter.

Ciena’s healthy 3rd quarter performance was overshadowed by expectations of a pandemic-induced slowdown for the next few quarters.

This report includes our initial forecasts of the 100ZR and 400ZR+ markets.. Compact Modular sales grew much faster than the overall market this quarter as disaggregation continues to gain traction in networks outside of Cloud & Colo.

Second quarter results were mixed. Forecasted growth in Q2 from sales pushed out of Q1 did not materialize as anticipated and carriers indicated that annual CapEx will not be increased – suggesting a flat to down second half of the year.

Delayed order fulfillment due to COVID supply chain impact earlier this year didn’t materialize as expected.

Cisco reported a sharp decrease in orders across the company, although the decline in orders from service providers (-5%) was milder than other areas.

Despite ongoing operational issues due to COVID, increasing operator demand drove Infinera’s optical sales this quarter, and the company expects an even stronger second half.

Nokia reported rising demand from customers but a continued COVID impact on the supply chain, resulting in a down quarter in almost every region and product segment.

ADVA reported YoY growth in the second quarter but retracted guidance for the rest of the year, a narrative that will be echoed by many vendors in Q2.

Our 3Q18 report showed coherent optical port pricing dropping at 26% per year. This report examines the stability of that trend over the last 12 months as new coherent systems entered the market.

Ciena expects to generate revenue growth of 2-4% in a flat (ex-China) market in 2020, implying declines YoY for optical sales in the second half of the year.

Packet-OTN sales doubled in NA as carriers responded to COVID-19, and shipments of 400Gbps+ ports doubled YoY as Chinese equipment companies entered production.

North American Incumbent optical spending was up almost 50% YoY while Wholesale, Cable/MSO, and Cloud spending all declined this quarter.

Vendors generally claimed a 5-10% reduction in sales due to COVID-19 operational issues this quarter. While demand increased, the inability to get parts, manufacture equipment, and deliver to end customers reduced sales in all areas.

Lightwave published an article summarizing 1Q20 optical hardware results using data from our report.

The effects of COVID-19 simultaneously catalyzed demand for transport equipment and paralyzed supply chains worldwide during the first quarter of 2020.

Overview and analysis of Nokia’s fifth generation of coherent DSPs, the PSE-Vs, and PSE-Vc.

Nokia launched it’s 5th generation coherent solution. This includes new PSE-5 DSPs, new CSTAR silicon photonics from its Elenion acquisition, and pluggable CFP2-DCO and QSFP-288DD pluggable modules.

On the Q1 earnings call, Infinera CEO Tom Fallon emphasized that margins were “compressed” by the inability to ship higher-margin new technology to offset of the lower-margin 200Gbps optics.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Cisco’s 1Q20 results.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Nokia’s 1Q20 results.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers ADVA’s 1Q20 results.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Ciena’s 1Q20 results.

Acacia’s results are a bellwether to the industry. This report looks at the most recent results for the company and examines them in the context of historical trends.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Tejas 1Q20 results.

The OIF announced that the official release of the 400ZR implementation agreement is now available for download.

Cignal AI updated the 2020 optical and packet transport hardware forecast with our best estimates of the impact of COVID-19.

Infinera announced new versions of the Groove chassis to support 5th generation coherent ICE6 optics and provide feature enhancements to better address applications outside of cloud and colo operators.

Major optical transport equipment vendors did not present at OFC in March due to COVID-19 concerns, but that did not stop announcements of products and online updates to customers and analysts.

Cloud & Colo optical spending growth cooled in the 4th quarter but still led growth for the year with Ciena as market share leader. North American Incumbent and Cable/MSO optical spending came back strong in the 4th quarter.

Compact Modular sales growth slowed in North America in the 4th quarter, but sales growth outside of NA was exceptionally strong and total worldwide sales grew nearly 50% year-over-year.

Recent optical sales in North America were encouraging – up more than 25% for 4Q19 and 10% for all of 2019 according to the most recent Transport Hardware Report from research firm Cignal AI.

This report finalizes our full optical equipment market share analysis and includes updated forecasts for the industry through 2024.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Infinera’s 4Q19 results.

Acacia announced a new family of 400G coherent pluggable optics for 400ZR/Open ROADM applications based on the new 7nm Greylock DSP.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Cisco’s 4Q19 results.

The Optical Fiber Communications Conference is the most significant industry trade and technical show for optical communications. In preparation for the event, Cignal AI has compiled a list of what to watch at OFC and what announcements to expect.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Nokia’s 4Q19 results.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Juniper’s 4Q19 results.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Ciena’s 4Q19 results.

Lightwave gathered opinions from several people in the industry to look at the opportunity for 400G in the data center during 2020.

Cignal AI invites you to attend an overview presentation about the expansion of Cignal AI’s optical hardware research to include comprehensive coverage of packet switching and routing in service provider transport networks.

Gazettabyte authored a lengthy article about the sampling of the first 400G DSP for use in pluggable applications. It included an interview with Inphi, Neophotonics, and analysts including Andrew Schmitt.

Cisco held a major launch event to communicate that the company is reorienting its focus to changing network architectures and customers. The deeper message was one of cultural changes at Cisco.

Inphi announced it sampled the industry’s first 400ZR QSFP-DD module to major cloud operators and equipment manufacturers.

An update to October’s State of 5th Generation Optics report based on recent developments at Ciena and Infinera.

Cloud & Colo led growth in North America, up 45% this quarter. Ciena increased its market share to over 50% in 3Q19.

200G coherent shipments from China exceeded forecasts, worldwide shipments of 100G coherent ports will now decline until lower-cost alternatives emerge.

This report finalizes our full optical equipment market share analysis and includes updated forecasts for the industry through 2023.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Cisco’s 3Q19 results.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Infinera’s 3Q19 results.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Nokia’s 3Q19 results.

Inphi announced it sampled its new Canopus coherent DSP, the industry’s first merchant 7nm coherent DSP designed to support 400ZR and 400ZR+ applications. Andrew Schmitt commented in the press release, joined by others from Arista and Juniper.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Ciena’s 3Q19 results.

In this report, we survey recent coherent optical progress and provide an overview of the market status of 5th generation coherent optics.

Hosted in Dublin this year, ECOC 2019 offered three days of interaction with primarily component companies. Equipment and service provider attendance was minimal, although a handful did make the trip to the component-centric show.

Infinera introduced its roadmap concept for XR optics, the industry’s first point-to-multipoint coherent optical subcarrier aggregation technology. Andrew Schmitt provided editorial commentary in the release.

Inphi announced that it was first to production with a 100Gbps/400Gbps Single-Lambda PAM4, a complete 56GBaud solution with linear TIA and drivers.

Sales of Compact Modular platforms slowed during the second quarter of the year despite significant growth from market leader Ciena.

Incumbent spending grew in every region, Cloud & Colo spending growth slowed, and Cable & MSO sales declined.

The Cignal AI 3rd quarter 2019 (3Q19) Optical Hardware market share tracker is now active. The tracker gives clients a real-time view of market results as they are released.

Forward-looking operators use disaggregation to build agile optical transport networks.

Over a quarter of North American compact modular sales were for long haul deployments as applications continue to expand.

This report finalizes our full optical equipment market share analysis and includes updated forecasts for the industry through 2023.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Huawei’s 2Q19 results.

Optical hardware spending grew in every region and for every business segment during 2Q19.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Infinera’s 2Q19 results.

Andrew Schmitt spoke at the Optical Internetworking Forum’s 3Q19 meeting in Montreal on July 30th, 2019. The OIF press release mentioned the two new projects kicked off at the meeting as well as highlighted Andrew’s presentation on 400ZR, which was attended by about 100 OIF members.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Ciena’s 2Q19 results.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Nokia’s 2Q19 results.

Optical hardware spending has been declining in North America since 2015. In this report, we examine the question of whether North America’s decline in overall optical spending signifies a long-term trend and whether EMEA and the rest of the world will follow this same trend.

Andrew Schmitt gave a presentation on July 30th, 2019 during the Optical Internetworking Forum quarterly meeting. He was asked to give a brief overview of emerging pluggable coherent technologies and the opportunity this new market presents.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers ADVA’s 2Q19 results.

Cloud and colo operator spending on optical communications hardware continued to spur market growth in the first quarter of 2019.

Compact modular optical hardware is being used in more network applications than ever before, driving up sales during the first quarter of 2019 as reported in the latest Optical Applications Report from market research firm Cignal AI.

Acacia is a transformational acquisition that can vault Cisco into a market leadership position as the world transitions to disaggregated network design and pluggable, interoperable coherent optics.

LightWave summarized the opinions of several people in the optics industry about the $2.6B proposed acquisition of Acacia by Cisco.

LightReading reported on Cisco’s proposed acquisition of Acacia and requested a quote from Cignal AI.

Cignal AI attended the 2019 International Telecoms Week (ITW) in Atlanta June 24-26. ITW is a trade show focused on the wholesale telecommunications market and is attended primarily by network…

The Cignal AI 2nd quarter 2019 (2Q19) Optical Hardware market share tracker is now active. The tracker gives clients a real-time view of market results as they are released.

Cignal AI has issued the 1Q19 Optical Customer Markets Report. 

Japan’s optical hardware spending surge continued for the fourth quarter in a row with an extraordinary 82% year-over-year increase in the first quarter of 2019.

Cignal AI’s 1Q19 Optical Hardware Applications Report has been issued.

LightReading summarized the challenges faced by Neophotonics as a result of the ban on component shipments to Huawei. The article quoted Andrew Schmitt at length about the potential outcome of the ban and the prospect for M&A activity involving Neophotonics as a result.

Cignal AI presents the results from the 1Q19 Optical Hardware Report.

This report finalizes our full optical equipment market share analysis and includes updated forecasts for the industry through 2023.

The Next Generation Optical Networks trade show (NGON) was in Nice, France May 21-23, and Cignal AI was in attendance.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Fujitsu’s 1Q19 results.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Nokia’s 1Q19 results.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Infinera’s 1Q19 results.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Ciena’s 1Q19 results.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers ADVA’s 1Q19 results.

OIF standardization initiatives catalyzed a transition from multiple proprietary tunable laser solutions to a nearly universally used standard

Cloud operator spending on optical hardware grew almost 50 percent year-over-year to reach well over over $1 billion in 2018, according to the most recent (4Q18) Optical Customer Markets Report from research firm Cignal AI.

The Cignal AI 1st quarter 2019 (1Q19) Optical Hardware market share tracker is now active. The tracker gives clients a real-time view of market results as they are released.

Cignal AI presents the results from the 4Q18 Optical Customer Markets Report.

Cignal AI has issued the 4Q18 Optical Customer Markets Report. 

Cignal AI presents the results from the 4Q18 Optical Applications Report.

Cignal AI’s 4Q18 Optical Hardware Applications Report has been issued.

Cignal AI presents the results from the 4Q18 Optical Hardware Report.

Scott Wilkinson, Lead Analyst for Optical Hardware, recently moderated a discussion on “Disaggregation Strategies & Transport SDN” in advance of the NGON & DCI World conference in Nice. Scott…

5G mobile technology and the cable/MSO initiative Fiber Deep are generating interest in new and unique optical networking solutions

The next major stop on the road to faster speeds in the datacenter is 400Gbps Ethernet, and activity at OFC2019 centered on making this speed a feasible commercial option.

Open and disaggregated network equipment, software, and standards were a common theme on the floor and in presentations at OFC this year.

The compact modular format continues to be the fastest growing segment of the optical hardware market. In this section, the announcements and demonstrations at OFC are detailed.

Coherent announcements and roadmaps at the show focused on two themes: lowering the power of coherent technology for use in pluggable applications and increasing baud rates to raise the maximum capacity of a single wavelength beyond 600Gbps. And despite few new ROADM announcements, there was a spirited debate about future ROADM architectures.

Scott Wilkinson and Andrew Schmitt gave presentations about 5G and 400ZR during the OFC2019 Marketwatch program. Download a copy of their slides.

Long-haul WDM deployments rebounded in the fourth quarter of 2018 (4Q18) with growth of nearly 20 percent, fueled by a reversal of almost two years of a terrestrial spending decline in North America and a year-over-year surge in Japan.

Before OFC, Acacia highlighted progress towards bringing the AC1200 optical module and Pico DSP to production with customer field trials of its components in Adva and Cisco equipment.

This report finalizes our full optical equipment market share analysis and includes updated forecasts for the industry through 2023.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Infinera’s 4Q18 results.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Nokia’s 4Q18 results.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Cisco’s 4Q18 results.

Cisco mentioned multi-haul, our concept of a coherent link that is capable of operating across a wide range of speeds and distance, in a blog detailing the results of a trial with Verizon of their new NCS1004 platform.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Huawei’s 4Q18 results.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Ciena’s 4Q18 results.

Despite early claims that the optical network must be upgraded to realize the capabilities of 5G, network operators are instead building the radio network first and updating the optical network only when needed.

Ciena announced its latest generation of coherent technology with a dual strategy of pushing coherent speeds to 800Gbs as well as delivering low power pluggable 400ZR solutions.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Tejas’ 4Q18 results.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Fujitsu’s 4Q18 results.

Infinera announced the details and schedule for ICE6, its next-generation coherent engine featuring 800G operation. It is a 1.6T monolithic PIC co-packaged with a new internally developed 7nm DSP.

The 2019 Optical Fiber Conference is less than a month away. Cignal AI’s analysts have compiled a list of predictions and expectations for what we expect to see from vendors and other OFC participants.

Despite early claims that the optical network must be upgraded to realize the capabilities of 5G, network operators are instead building the radio network first and updating the optical network only when needed.

The Cignal AI 4th quarter 2018 (4Q18) Optical Hardware market share tracker is now active. This interactive page tracks hardware sales as results are reported for the quarter.

This report examines trends in coherent port pricing from multiple vendors and for the industry overall.

Incumbent operator spending in Asia remains strong and now represents 35% of all optical hardware spending worldwide according to the 3Q18 Optical Markets Report.

On December 13, 2018, Cignal AI presented their results from the 3Q 2018 Optical Hardware Report.

Cignal AI has issued the 3Q18 Optical Customer Markets Report. 

Infinera + Coriant Challenge Ciena for Compact Modular Market Leadership

Cignal AI’s 3Q18 Optical Hardware Applications Report has been issued.

The arrival of standardized, pluggable 400ZR and derivative technologies – fourth generation coherent – is poised to be the most disruptive event in optical hardware since the advent of coherent 100G in 2010.

Optical Hardware Report Shows 8th Consecutive Quarter of Spending Declines in North America Despite Strength of Cloud and Colo Market

This report finalizes our full optical equipment market share analysis and includes updated forecasts for the industry through 2022. It is released once results for the current quarter (3Q18) are complete. Clients have been able to see company results as they were released during the quarter via the Optical Hardware Tracker, a service unique to Cignal AI.

The Cignal AI 3rd quarter 2018 (3Q18) Optical Hardware market share tracker is now active. This tracker allows clients to download a real-time view of industry results as companies report. Updates are made continuously and are reflected in the tracking table below.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Fujitsu’s 3Q18 results.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Fujitsu’s 3Q18 results.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Nokia’s 3Q18 results.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Huawei’s 3Q18 results.

Lightwave summarized the acquisition of Finisar by II-VI and requested commentary from Cignal AI.

On November 5th, Andrew Schmitt and Scott Wilkinson traveled to New York for a day of 1:1 meetings with investors and a lunch presentation to a group of investors. Topics included the role compact modular systems would play in shaping operator spending, Chinese spending and technology trends and discussion of the ongoing industry consolidation.

Raymond James released a note summarizing the discussions – some observations are excerpted here:

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers Ciena’s 3Q18 results, announced August 30, 2018.

Acacia mentioned data from our Optical Applications report during its calendar first quarter conference call with investors on May 3, 2018. The company referenced our extensive work following the development of the coherent 400G ZR market.

The SCTE Cable-Tec Expo is the premiere technical trade show for North American Cable MSOs and has historically been oriented towards software, analog hardware, outside plant, and HFC-specific equipment. This year a greater number of prominent optical companies joined in. Factor such as fiber deep, native optics, 5G, and virtualization are driving optical deployments into the MSOs.

Vendor summary reports focus on the most recent quarterly financial results and items of interest for select vendors. This report covers ADVA’s 3Q18 results, announced October 25, 2018.

Ciena Leads Sales to North American Cloud/Colo Operators as Spending Increases 6 Percent Quarter-Over-Quarter; Huawei Sees Strong Demand from Chinese Cloud Giants

Cignal AI has issued the 2Q18 Optical Customer Markets Report. 

Gazettabyte discovers that Ciena is actively hiring people to staff an Optical Microsystems Division including internal salespeople tasked to secure market footprint.

Infinera’s acquisition of Coriant officially closed on October 1, 2018, and it is yet another example of the absorption of smaller optical networking equipment vendors happening in the market today, although at a scale not seen since Ciena acquired the optical assets of Nortel in 2009. This Active Insight report examines the post-acquisition opportunities and challenges in depth.

The transition to the latest coherent WDM technology is underway and its effects are rippling through the optical market. This presentation summarizes the history of the coherent market and outlines the technology’s expected evolution over the next 4 years.

Addition Will Expand Coverage of New Applications for Optical Hardware and Custom Research Capabilities

Lightwave writes about our 2Q18 Optical Application report and changes to the 2018 200G & 400G forecast.

Prior to ECOC 2018 Inphi introduced the industry’s smallest form factor, lowest power and highest performance 64GBaud quad coherent TIA and driver.

Cignal AI Raises CY18 200G and 400G Coherent Forecasts

Cignal AI’s 2Q18 Optical Hardware Applications Report has been issued.

Hong Kong Paper publishes an editorial from a security consultant.
Read full article >>

Partners with ECI for metro transport and Juniper for routing. Both companies’ equipment will work with Ericsson management software. These partnerships usually don’t move the needle and it is hard…

Huawei Reports Record Revenue in China During ZTE Shutdown

This report finalizes our full optical equipment market share analysis and includes updated forecasts for the industry through 2022. It is released once results for the current quarter (2Q18) are complete. Clients have been able to see company results as they were released during the quarter via the Optical Hardware Tracker, a service unique to Cignal AI.

Ciena and Infinera Continue to Take Share in Cloud Market

The Cignal AI 2nd quarter 2018 (2Q18) Optical Hardware market share tracker is now complete. This tracker allows clients to download a real-time view of industry results as companies report. Updates are made continuously and are reflected in the tracking table below.

Lightwave covers our 1Q18 Optical Application report and documents our boost of the 100G coherent market forecast in 2022.

The transition to the latest coherent WDM technology is underway and its effects are rippling through the optical market. It’s time to take a step back and sort out where things are, what worked, who benefitted, and what happens next. In this Active Insight report, Cignal AI outlines several generations of coherent WDM deployments and examines the catalysts and keys to market success for the third generation of coherent.

On August 2, 2018 Cignal AI hosted its first webinar Optical Market Trends Now: ADVA

Lead analyst Andrew Schmitt joined Ulrich Dopfer, ADVA CFO and Stephan Rettenberger, ADVA Senior VP of Marketing and Investor Relations to provide their various perspectives on the optical industry.

In October 2017,  Cignal AI analyzed the occurrence of a slowdown in spending by cloud & colo operators and quantified the magnitude of its impact (see Analysis: 1H17 Cloud and Colo Spending Slowdown).

Cignal AI has issued the 1Q18 Optical Customer Markets Report. Similar to the recent Optical Applications release, this report will now be updated quarterly; previously the report was published every six months.

Optical Applications Report Provides In-Depth Analysis of Coherent Port Shipments by Speed

Andrew Schmitt was invited by Packet Pushers and Scott Wilkinson of ECI to participate in one of its weekly podcasts. While not well known in the service provider world, it is popular among the network engineers of small to large Enterprises. Each podcast has about 10,000 downloads per episode.

Cignal AI’s 1Q18 Optical Hardware Applications Report has been issued. Its arrival marks the first quarterly release of this report, which will now be standard practice; previously the report was published every six months.

This report finalizes our full optical equipment market share analysis and has updated forecasts for the industry through 2022. It is released once results for the current quarter (1Q18) are complete, as tabulated in our Optical Hardware Tracker.

Cignal AI Enhances Quarterly Optical Hardware Reports with New Market Tracker Offering Real-Time Visibility into Individual Vendor Results

The Cignal AI 1st quarter 2018 (1Q18) Optical Hardware market share tracker is active. This tracker allows clients to download a real-time view of industry results as companies report results. Updates are made continuously and are reflected in the tracking table below.

Ciena references data from the most recent 4Q18 Optical Application report in a blog post that outlines its opinions on how 400G is being deployed.

Acacia mentioned data from our Optical Applications report during its calendar first quarter conference call with investors on May 3, 2018. The company referenced our extensive work following the development of the coherent 400G ZR market.

The 4Q17 edition of the Optical Customer Markets report has been released. It provides insight into how much optical equipment different network operators purchase.

On April 16, the United States Department of Commerce announced that ZTE would no longer be allowed to import American technology products. While there is no shortage of media coverage of the ban, Cignal AI aims to provide you with unique insight. We have assembled our observations and conclusions on this remarkable event, and we share answers to some common questions we’ve received as it has transpired.

Compact Modular Optical Hardware Outpaces Projections as Adoption Extends Outside Cloud and Colo Customers

Each year, OFC showcases the most noteworthy developments in the optical industry, and this year was no exception. Companies utilized OFC as a venue to announce and demonstrate new products…

The 4Q17 edition of the Optical Hardware Applications report has been released. The report contains details on the following areas:

Each year at OFC, we have the valuable opportunity to hear from the network operators themselves to better understand their vision for the future network. This year, there were some…

When the conversation at OFC turned to short reach client optics, faster speeds were the central focus.  Several companies announced products and gave demonstrations of 400G capable technology. The 100G…

Trends in coherent technology generated enthusiasm among the participants at OFC 2018, and 400G ZR applications were of particular interest. Nokia and Infinera outlined next-generation coherent roadmaps, and Acacia and…

Compact Modular Equipment took center stage at OFC 2018

On March 6, 2018, Nokia announced its fourth generation coherent optical technology, the PSE-3, which continues the company’s strategy of developing coherent DSP processors in-house.

Each year, there is at least one announcement at OFC which surprises the industry. In 2016, the announcement was the introduction of Inphi’s ColorZ, while in 2017 it was news…

On March 6, 2018, Nokia announced its fourth generation coherent optical technology, the PSE-3, which continues the company’s strategy of developing coherent DSP processors in-house. Nokia is betting that these…

Fujitsu announced its new 1FINITY T500 and T600 products, adding to its family of compact modular transponders and optical common equipment. The T600 is capable of 600G per wavelength coherent operation using the NTT Electronics DSP.

Inphi announced its 16nm 400Gbps 56GBaud Porrima Single-Lambda PAM4 chip platform. This silicon is required to hit cost points for QSFP56-DD modules that will enable high volume adoption of 400GbE inside data centers.

This was an announcement for Nistica’s new WSS module, code-named Bernoulli, which is designed for use in compact modular optical open line systems. It fits in the size of a CFP2 module and comes in different versions to perform critical monitoring, power balancing, or optical switching functions.

Microsemi (Acquired PMC-Sierra) announced announced a 1.2 Terabit capacity OTN framer/processor chip, no doubt designed to pair with the flood of 1.2T DSPs hitting the market during 2018. The device can support 400GbE clients as well as Flex-E and has onboard encryption.

Nokia announced it’s third generation coherent in-house DSP family. AMopng support for higher modulations and baud rates supporting up to 2x600G transmission, it added probabilistic constellation shaping (PCS) which maximized channel capacity.

On February 14th, Cignal AI issued full optical equipment market share analysis for 4th quarter 2017 (4Q17). This second report extends our analysis and summarizes forecasts and outlooks for the industry through 2022.

Andrew Schmitt was the featured speaker on an investor call hosted by Troy Jensen of Piper Jaffray on February 21st. Forty-four participants listened in and posed their questions as Andrew…

 Cignal AI Quarterly Optical Hardware Report Also Reveals Lower-than-Anticipated North American Sales

Cignal AI has released its 4th quarter 2017 (4Q17) optical hardware market share analysis, which includes a summary of revenue results for the quarter as well as the entire calendar year 2017 (CY17).

Ciena released its 4Q17 results followed by a 10-K with supporting information last month. Cignal AI’s summary and analysis follow.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released a five-year plan in December 2017 outlining a roadmap for commercial and technological progress in a broad set of optical technologies. The…

Quarterly Shipments of Coherent 100G+ Ports Exceed 100,000 Units for the First Time

On November 21st, Cignal AI issued full optical equipment market share analysis for 3rd quarter 2017 (3Q17). This second report extends our analysis and summarizes forecasts and outlooks for the industry through 2021.

Cignal AI has released its 3rd quarter 2017 (3Q17) optical hardware market share analysis, which includes a summary of revenue results for the quarter.

Infinera announced that Netflix deployed the Infinera Cloud Xpress 2 to expand their delivery capacity for streaming videos.

Acacia mentioned data from our Optical Applications report during its third-quarter earnings conference call with investors on November 3, 2017. The company highlighted our unique work to measure and forecast demand for 100G+ coherent deployments at the edge of the network.

Inphi mentioned adjusting internal forecasts for 100G port growth during its third-quarter earnings conference call with investors on October 31, 2017.

Cignal AI’s recent Optical Customer Markets Report discovered an unexpected weakness in 2017 optical transport equipment spending from cloud & colo operators (see Cignal AI Reports Unexpected Drop in Cloud and Colo Spending). This surprising trend was then further supported by public comments later made by Juniper and Applied Optoelectronics, prompting us to examine the situation in greater detail.

Infinera published two papers at ECOC 2017 that set new milestones in terms of baud rate (100Gbs) and modulation density (1024 QAM). While these technologies are years away from commercial reality and deployment Infinera is demonstrating a continued commitment to the in-house development of photonic integration and the results it believes this can achieve.

This is Cignal AI’s second ECOC 2017 brief, focused on news out of China.

Topics include:

China Inventory and 2018 Demand Ciena Wavelogic AI Licensing Update China ROADM Deployment Outlook…

Optical Customer Market Report Finds Ciena and Cisco Outperforming Peers in Cloud & Colo Market

Andrew Schmitt’s presentation, entitled “Mapping the Future of Optical Deployments,” was one of several featured during this years ECOC Market Focus sessions in Gothenburg, Sweden September 18-20th.

The presentation highlights…

We’ve released the 1H17 edition of the Optical Customer Markets report. It provides insight into how much optical equipment different segments of network operators purchase.

ECOC is one of the most significant conferences in optical networking worldwide. This year’s conference was held in Gothenburg, Sweden, and the event was well attended by the engineering community,…

Inphi announces samples of its latest Polaris PAM-4 DSP for inside the data center which. This is the PAM-4 engine that powers optical modules such as 200G QSFP28s and 400G CFP8s running FR8 signaling. The chip also integrates both single and multi-mode laser drivers, further reducing cost.

Semtech and Multiphydemonstrate a single-lambda 100G solution at ECOC for DR4 modulation in a QSFP28. This included a single channel PAM-4 DSP from Multiphy, and modulator driver and TIA from Semtech.

Optical Applications Report Reveals Market Share for Coherent 100G Shipments and Rapid Growth in Compact Modular equipment for Second Half of 2017

Our 1H17 edition of the Optical Hardware Applications report has been released.

On August 20th, Cignal AI issued full optical equipment market share analysis for 2nd quarter 2017 (2Q17). This second report extends our analysis and summarizes forecasts and outlooks for the industry through 2021.

Infinera released its calendar 2Q17 results on 8/3/2017, and Cignal AI’s summary and analysis follows.

Cignal AI has released its 2nd quarter 2017 (2Q17) optical hardware market share analysis, which includes a summary of revenue results for the quarter.

Quarterly Optical Hardware Report Details Record Shipments of 100G Coherent Ports and North American Market Share Growth for Ciena and Cisco

Huawei’s results for 2Q17 are now available; our summary and analysis includes:

Overview of Quarterly Results
100G+ Port Shipment Detail

Nokia released its 2Q17 results on July 27th 2017. Cignal AI’s summary and analysis includes:
Overview of Quarterly Results
Cloud & Colo Business Update

Cignal AI summary and analysis of Fujitsu 2Q17 results includes:

Overview of Quarterly Results
Update on 1Finity Products
Open ROADM Deployment Outlook

ADVA released its 2Q17 results on 7/20/2017, and our summary and analysis includes:

An overview of quarterly results
Cloudconnect update
Cloud and colo customer markets spending trends
MRV merger update and observations

After much of the world already transitioned to all-optically switched ROADM networks, Chinese network operators are preparing to follow suit. Most networks outside of China used optical switching as early…

Infinera completed a trans-Atlantic field trial with it’s new XTS-3300, slightly edging out the performance of previous announcements by Ciena and Nokia for trans-Atlantic links.

On June 15th, Cignal AI issued full optical equipment market share analysis for 1st quarter 2017 (1Q17). This second report extends our analysis and summarizes forecasts and outlooks for the industry through 2021.

Andrew Schmitt’s keynote presentation, entitled “Ways to Achieve Network Openness“, kicked off the 2017 Next Gen Optical Networking event in Nice, France on June 20th. The presentation, which highlights Cignal…

Cignal AI has released its 1st quarter 2017 (1Q17) optical hardware market share analysis, which includes a summary of revenue results for the quarter.

Infinera announced a major upgrade to its XTM chassis (Transmode acquisition) bringing 200G and 400G uplink capabilities to existing systems already deployed in the field.

Ciena and Nokia Lead in Cloud and Colo Market Share

Infinera announced its new CX2 is GA and deployed in cloud and colo networks, a crucial strategic follow up to its successful first-gen Cloud Xpress, which the competition has now caught up to.

A compact summary of Cignal AI’s position in the debate:

Half of Worldwide Metro Deployments Expected to be 200G in 2017, Fueled by Cloud/Colo Providers and Increased Interest in DCI by Incumbents

Our 2H16 edition of the Optical Customer Markets report has been released.

In our final OFC 2017 report we discuss new product announcements on purpose-built datacenter hardware and components, and share our thoughts on market developments.

Our 2H16 edition of the Optical Hardware Applications report has been released.

There was a new cult this year at OFC, the ‘Cult of Open.’ It formed from rising sentiment that the lack of interoperability of vendors in optical networks is a major…

400G Coherent and Beyond
Ciena had a blockbuster announcement at OFC 2017, but there was plenty of other interesting news to feast on. Cignal AI’s key takeaways concerning coherent…

100G and the Road to 400G

The transition to 100G network speeds inside the data center is underway at every major hyperscale operator simultaneously, creating major industry bottlenecks. Despite QSFP28…

Andrew Schmitt provided key OFC 2017 takeaways during an investor call hosted by Troy Jensen of Piper Jaffray.

Inphi is the market share leader for coherent driver and receiver electronics and wanted to highlight exactly how much of their product is in the field.

Infinera announced a major expansion of its Instant Bandwidth feature, making those features network wide and eventually paired with software-based network control.

Ranovus announces a new direct detect solution in CFP2 DCO format, joining InPhi in offering solutions to the DCI marketplace.

Inphi announces a companion component to its 400G TIA, and now offers electronics to interface the latest 400G+ DSPs with coherent optics

On February 27th, Cignal AI issued full optical equipment market share analysis for 4th quarter 2016 (4Q16). This second report, issued on March 9th, extends our analysis and summarizes forecasts and outlooks for the industry through 2021.

Chinese spending jumped 19% in 2016 and should surprise skeptics in 2017

Cignal AI has released its 4th quarter 2016 (4Q16) optical hardware market share analysis, which includes a summary of revenue results for the quarter as well as the entire calendar year 2016 (CY16).

Andrew Schmitt comments on Infinera’s announcement of an upgraded mobile anyhaul (front/backhaul) optical transport system.

Our 1H16 edition of the Optical Hardware Applications report is updated and now includes a complete PowerPoint summary.

This past October, Ciena announced its new coherent DSP, dubbed Wavelogic Ai. Ciena used the announcement to convey its coherent 100G+ roadmap and support for 400G. Ciena also hinted at important changes…

On November 16th, Cignal AI issued full optical equipment market share analysis for 3rd quarter 2016 (3Q16), to be followed by an adjunct report two weeks later. This second report, issued on November 30th, extends our analysis and summarizes forecasts and outlooks for the industry through 2020.

High capacity data center interconnect platforms and speeds beyond 100G are a major catalyst

Cignal AI has released its comprehensive 3rd quarter 2016 (3Q16) optical equipment market share analysis, which provides a summary of revenue results for the quarter.

Lightwave quotes Andrew Schmitt in its article regarding the acquisition of Clariphy Communications by Inphi:

Intel’s financial results provide useful insight into the economic activities of the Cloud and Colo market. Effectively all of the CPUs (and now FPGAs) used in data centers come from…

Andrew Schmitt gave an update on the optical equipment and component market during an investor call hosted by Troy Jensen of Piper Jaffray on Tuesday, October 4. Sixty-eight investors participated….

An Investor Business Daily article summarized a research note from Piper Jaffray. The note was issued by Troy Jensen following a call held with Andrew Schmitt and 70+ buy-side investors.

Andrew Schmitt is interviewed after his presentation at ECOC 2016 in Dusseldorf where he presented an update on the use of 100G coherent in the data center interconnect and metro markets.

Andrew Schmitt presented at the ECOC (European Conference for Optical Communications) in Dusseldorf, Germany during the week of Sept. 19. No time was wasted during the trip as Andrew fit…

Andrew Schmitt has returned from a week of meetings in Europe including three days at the European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC). He spoke to a capacity crowd at the…

Infinera announced a follow on product to it’s groundbreaking Infinera Cloud Xpress, including the integration of it’s GEN4 PIC technology.

Inphi bet big and bet early on linear drivers, rather than limiting drivers, for coherent applications. As a result they dominate this market. It announced a product refresh at ECOC 2016.

Our 1H16 edition of the Optical Hardware Applications report has been published.

On August 22nd, Cignal AI issued full optical equipment market share analysis for 2nd quarter 2016 (2Q16), to be followed by an adjunct report two weeks later. This second report, issued on September 9, extends our analysis and summarizes forecasts and outlooks for the industry through 2020.

100G technology makes China the largest global market for optical equipment for the first time

Cignal AI has released full optical equipment market share analysis from 2nd quarter 2016 (2Q16). This report summarizes optical equipment revenue results for the quarter.

On August 4th, Nokia announced its quarterly results, and they included good optical results for 2Q16. While optical accounts for less than 10% of Nokia’s corporate revenue, this specific business unit is poised to benefit from the oncoming ramp up in metro coherent 200G.

Cignal’s Active Insight promises real-time information, and with that in mind, we are providing an update on Ciena. Ciena reported results for its April-2016 quarter on June 2nd. Corporate results were decent from an overall revenue perspective, but performance in the optical equipment area was slightly disappointing.

Acacia is scheduled to report earnings on August 11th, and this will be the company’s first quarterly report since completing its recent IPO. In April 2016, Cignal AI examined Acacia’s…

ADVA released excellent quarterly results on Thursday, July 21th and its optical business is hitting on all cylinders right now. The company expects to sustain its current revenue surge through the coming quarter as it continues to ship an impressive amount of 100G ports.

Infinera held it’s Q2 Earnings Call on Wednesday, July 27th, and it was surprising to say the least. The company conveyed expectations for an exceptional slowdown in demand for Q3. Cignal AI has analyzed Infinera’s 2Q16 results and we present both company comments and our own opinions on what caused this major shift in expected demand and the forces behind it.

Andrew presented the keynote presentation to kick off Next Gen Optical Networking in Nice, France on June 29th. His presentation was titled “Making Technology Decisions in a Challenging Environment”, and…

Our initial set of optical equipment results and forecasts for Datacenter Interconnect, Advanced Optical Switching, as well as detailed 100G+ Coherent and non-coherent port shipments have been published in Excel format.

Full results and updated forecasts for 1Q 2016 have been published in Excel format. Subscribers can download the full excel file here.

Andrew Schmitt created some excitement when he spoke about optical component and equipment market trends on a Piper Jaffray investor call on April 22. 83 investor clients were on the…

Andrew presented “Metro DCI – What’s Next?” at the annual OSA Executive Forum before OFC 2016. His slides focused on the evolution of metro DCI and highlighted the opportunity for…

Component and equipment vendors outlined the investments they are making in anticipation of some service providers adopting open line systems or fully dis-aggregated optical systems. This is a contentious technology…

The optical networking world finally gets a close up view of Acacia’s performance as the company is filing for an IPO. The most recent S-1/A filing by Acacia includes 2015 financial details, which we review through the lenses of Cignal AI’s customer and market knowledge in order to create a fine-grained view of the company’s performance and qualitative outlook. This analysis includes a detailed projection of customer composition for 90%+ of revenue, market share within entire 100G market, and estimates of ASPs beyond what is included in public documents.

The optical component industry is changing from one in which existing InP and discrete designs are replicated in SiPho to a new approach under which the unique benefits of SiPho…

Fujitsu Network Communications rolled out its new 1FINITY Platform, aimed at service providers interested in dis-aggregated optical network architectures.

Andrew Schmitt wrote an article sent to all OFC 2016 attendees foreshadowing what would be the big themes for the show and what trends would follow throughout the year.

Clariphy announced a new 16nm silicon platform designed to be the foundation for future 400G coherent DSP designs.

As part of it’s impending rollout of equipment in Verizon’s metro WDM network, Ciena announced a new 6500 platform for this application.

Lightwave summarizes the news that the US Dept. of Commerce has blocked all exports to ZTE in China.

The US Commerce department just dropped a bomb on ZTE, requiring all US companies to obtain an export license if they wish to do business with the company. Article updated…

OFC is just a few short weeks away now, and some key themes are coming into focus for the conference. Registered users may read this article, no subscription required.Continue…

Lumentum is the second largest optical component supplier and like Finisar, a bellwether of demand for both telecom and datacom equipment. We look at why their ROADM business is ramping…

Nokia (Alcatel-Lucent, really) announced its first integrated mobile fronthaul transport system. Happy to say it also was the first quote for Cignal AI.

Virtually all of the CPUs used in data centers come from Intel, therefore the Data Center group sales are a useful macro barometer for the growth and outlook of data…

Adtran has a small optical transport business, but it’s strength in access makes it a good bellwether for tier-1 spend.
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Verizon talks mobile fronthaul and datacenter business sales.
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Ciena applies for membership to the exclusive Indium Phosphide club.Continue Reading

I’ve tracked the networking market for a number of years, and I am convinced there is room…