Optical Transceiver Recovery Underway

EUGENE, OR--(Marketwire - February 1, 2010) - After declining 20 percent in the first quarter of 2009, global optical transceiver sales increased by 6 and 10 percent in the second and third quarters, respectively, according to the latest Sales Report from LightCounting, the premier optical transceiver company. Extrapolating this trend into the next two quarters, LightCounting predicts global optical transceiver sales in the first quarter of 2010 will match pre-recession levels of $600 million. Sales of Ethernet transceivers led the market recovery with sales increases of 18 and 13 percent in the second and third quarters, respectively. Sales of optical interconnects increased most notably, by 85 and 19 percent in Q2 and Q3 2009, respectively, but this remains a relatively small market segment. Sales of datacom applications requiring Fibre Channel and Ethernet appear to be recovering the earliest, while sales of SONET/SDH and WDM modules used in telecom networks remain nearly flat.

"While Ethernet remains the largest market for optical transceivers, market growth today is centered on interconnecting supercomputers and converting copper interconnects to optical as speed and reaches increase," said Vladimir Kozlov, CEO and founder, LightCounting. "The Active Optical Cable segment saw a surge in sales due to increasing popularity and new entrants, but AOCs also hold potential for other applications when we project out to 2013 and beyond."

This report details quarterly sales of more than 100 product categories covering Q3 2008 to Q3 2009 for SONET/SDH, Ethernet, Fibre Channel, CWDM, DWM, and FTTx transceivers, parallel modules, and active optical cables. Data for the report was provided by more than 20 leading transceiver and optical components vendors.

About LightCounting

LightCounting LLC is the premier opto-electronic transceiver market research company, offering quarterly transceiver market survey results and forecasts based on confidential data provided by more than 25 leading transceiver vendors. LightCounting is the opto-electronic transceiver market's source for accurate, detailed and relevant information necessary for doing business in today's challenging economic climate. Privately held, LightCounting is headquartered in Eugene, Oregon, with offices in Silicon Valley. For more information: www.LightCounting.com or 408.962.4851.

To purchase LightCounting Reports, please contact Megan Andreosky, megan@lightcounting.com.