Last year, global commercial consumption of Dynamic Gain Equalizers (DGE)--standalone plus integrated components--was $12 million. According to a new study from ElectroniCast Corp. (San Mateo, CA), global consumption should jump to $451 million by 2006, an average annual growth rate of 107 % per year. The standalone module share accounted for 87% of the market in 2001, but will drop (relatively) to 63% by 2006.
"DGEs are used in WDM fiber networks," explains ElectroniCast chairman and founder Jeff D. Montgomery. "They are sold as a standard product and also are a functional unit built into higher level 'supercomponents' such as Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers (OADMs) and Optical Fiber Amplifiers (OFAs)."
There are numerous DGE vendors, says Montgomery, and at most of these vendors, the DGE as a standalone component in 2001 was developmental. Standalone DGEs are not yet qualified for commercial consumption in revenue traffic networks.
North America lead consumption of standalone DGEs and DGE components integrated into higher-level component assemblies in 2001, capturing 52 % of market, or $6 million. This share will decline over the next five years to 46 %, though North American value will rise to $207 million.
For more information about ElectroniCast's report, "Dynamic Gain Equalizer & Components Forecast," visit the company's Web site www.electronicast.com.