Huawei, Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) and ZTE continue to enjoy the top spots in the optical vendor domain as more service providers transition their core optical networks to 100G, according to a new Infonetics report.
While Alcatel-Lucent has reported year-over-year declines, its optical investments are predicted to increase this year through the "Shift Plan" that new CEO Michel Combes put in place when he took the reins of the company earlier this year.
During the second quarter, Alcatel-Lucent's optical revenues declined 7 percent to $559 million year-over-year. However, it reported mid-single-digit growth in the WDM portfolio, mostly in the United States and APAC. Huawei, meanwhile, reported in July that it signed its hundredth 100G customer. Some of its 100G customer wins include Rostelecom Russia and TIM Brazil.
Competition is afoot, however. Both Alcatel-Lucent and Huawei will face growing competition from Ciena (Nasdaq: CIEN) and Infinera (Nasdaq: INFN).
Andrew Schmitt, principal analyst for optical at Infonetics Research, said "Ciena is well positioned to capture the torrent of 100G spending expected this year from AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ)," while "Infinera is the fastest-growing supplier of optical WDM gear in Europe."
Driven by deployments of its DTN-X platform, Infinera reported that revenues in Q2 rose to $138.4 million. The vendor said it signed seven new purchase agreements from customers who are new to the optical vendor.
On a regional basis, Schmitt said the growth will come from Asia Pacific and North America. A number of new 100G deployments provided a boost to the North American WDM market, while in Asia Pacific, growth will be seen in China as that country's main telcos transition to 100G.
"WDM spending accelerated dramatically in North America as a result of 100G deployments hitting the ground, and worldwide spending on 100G speeds is tracking close to 15 percent of all optical spending," said Schmitt. "China's 100G deployments will begin in earnest as the year closes, led by China Mobile, and we're anticipating more than 5,000 ports of 100G in China alone in 2013."
For more:
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