11 November 2003 South San Francisco, CA Lightwave -- The global optical networking market fell 4% sequentially in 3Q03, following a stronger-than-expected 2Q, according to a new study by RHK. Initial results indicate that the quarterly market is back below the $2 billion mark and down 14% year-over-year. RHK believes market revenues for 2003 will probably total $7.9-$8.1 billion.
In 3Q03, "Cutthroat competition between vendors caused by too few opportunities continued to weigh down prices and revenues," stated Dana Cooperson, RHK's group and program director for Optical Networking. Among the top-ten vendors, only Cisco's sales grew year-over-year while most incumbent vendors' revenues fell in the double digits.
RHK expects higher spending on optical networking equipment during the last quarter of the year, when carriers flush their budgets, bringing the annual market to about $8 billion.
For more information regarding this report, please contact RHK Client Services at [email protected].