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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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