WDM systems demand will boost optical transport to $15B, research firm says

Optical transport equipment sales will grow to $15 billion by 2020, driven by huge demand for WDM (wavelength division multiplexer) systems over the next five years, a new report by Dell'Oro Group says.

According to Dell'Oro VP Jimmy Yu, three trends, all of them interrelated, will take place over the period to cause growing demand for WDM. "First, we expect an increasing amount of 200 Gbps wavelength shipments through the next five years; second, demand for flexible modulation line cards will significantly rise and become a growing share of 100 Gbps and 200 Gbps wavelength shipments; and third, we expect to see that 100 Gbps wavelength revenue will likely peak and begin its descent in the outer forecast years, due to the market's move towards 200 Gbps wavelengths in metro applications," he said.

Wavelength line cards, mostly 200 gigabit per second-capable line cards, will grow at a 120 percent CAGR over five years, the firm said. Release