August 18, 2004 San Francisco, CA -- The global optical networking market grew by nearly 6% overall in the second quarter of 2004, to $2.4 billion, according to market research and advisory services firm RHK Inc.
Among the top tier of vendors, Alcatel, Huawei, and Tellabs posted substantial revenue gains, while Lucent, Siemens, and Fujitsu reported substantial sequential declines. As a result, Fujitsu and Tellabs each moved
up two positions in rolling four-quarter market share rank, while Lucent fell from 3rd to 5th.
"Despite the overall market growth, second quarter revenues were a real mixed bag for ON vendors; Alcatel's and Huawei's revenue results salvaged
the quarter," reports Dana Cooperson, RHK group director for Optical Networking. "It's becoming more apparent that quarterly demand can fluctuate wildly for the vendors dependent on a few large service provider
network infrastructure contracts, while vendors whose carrier sales are more tied to end-user demand tend to exhibit smaller quarter-to-quarter revenue fluctuations," she explains. "Therefore, while we are on target for our 2004 most likely forecast based on first half spending, the risk of hitting our numbers for the full year remains."
RHK's "Optical Networks: Global" program provides detailed global and regional analysis of optical networks, including SONET/SDH, OED/MSPP, DCS, OCS, and metro and long-haul WDM transport products. For more information, visit www.rhk.com.