Telecom Lead Asia:
The Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer (ROADM) optical network
equipment market and the wavelength selective switch (WSS) components revenue
decreased about 5 percent in 2011.
The growth in ROADM WSS in 2010 was 124 percent.
Infonetics Research said the supply issues that led to the
2011 market contraction have been resolved.
Revenue for WDM ROADM-based optical equipment (not
components) grew 36 percent in 2011 from the previous year.
The research agency forecast that unit shipments of ROADM
WSS components are expected to grow faster than revenue due to price reductions
and a shift in the mix to smaller 1×4 WSS sizes as ROADMs are deployed further
toward the edges of networks.
The WSS market will be controlled by three vendors: CoAdna,
Finisar, and JDSU though the advent of colorless. Directionless ROADM creates
opportunity for suppliers like Oclaro and Nistica, as well as new Chinese and
Japanese companies with fresh prototypes.
The coherent optics creates a new growth vector for ROADM
networks.
Infonetics said market share winners of the transition to
40G/100G coherent network equipment will command a greater share of the ROADM
optical equipment market.
“Growth in the WSS component market paused during the past
18 months due excessive supply chain inventory and a period of slower ROADM
equipment sales. The WSS component market will resume growing this year and
maintain annual revenue growth in the range of about 15 percent to 20 percent
for the next few years, which is the underlying growth rate of the end market
of WDM ROADM equipment,” said Andrew Schmitt, Infonetics Research’s directing
analyst for optical.