ZTE

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

Key technology takeaways from OFC 2023.

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.

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

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.

Coherent bandwidth growth remains muted outside of 400ZR

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

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.

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

Cloud operator and traditional telco spending leads rebound in North America

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.