Optical attenuator demand will rise, prices will fall
Sales of optical attenuators in North America will grow substantially in the next decade, according to a forecast recently released by ElectroniCast Corp., San Mateo, CA. While the average price of attenuators will drop during this period, the total value of optical attenuator sales is expected to rise from a base of $22.56 million in 1996 to $88.73 million by 2006.
OThe steady consumption will be driven by accelerating deployment of fiber-in-the-loop, plus the continuing demand for upgrading networks to accommodate rapidly increasing bandwidth requirements,O says Stephen Montgomery, ElectroniCast president.
The Optical Attenuator Market Forecast 1997 reveals that telecommunications applications accounted for 69% of sales in 1996. However, this percentage of the market will decline to 59.4% as premises network demands double from 6.6% in 1996 to 13.2% in 2006 (see table).
The study divides the attenuator market into three segments: fixed panel mount (which includes bulkhead and connector build-out), fixed cable assembly (which comprises jumper and inline equipment), and adjustable (which encompasses both panel/stand-alone modules and fiber-optic measurement instruments). Adjustable attenuators represented the bulk of 1996 sales, accounting for 41.9%. Jumper assemblies followed with 29.7%, and fixed panel mounts accrued 27.3% of 1996 sales. (Totals may not be exact, due to rounding.)
The study is available from ElectroniCast Corp. for $3800. For more information, call Peter Jewett, marketing associate/research analyst at ElectroniCast, at (415) 343-1398 or fax (415) 343-1698.