Ciena Archives - Cignal AI

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.