Packet-optical transport system sales urge in 1Q13 says Dell'Oro Group

Sales of packet-optical transport systems continued to shine in the first quarter of 2013, rising 23% year on year to $1.1 billion. The figures are contained in a newly published report from Dell’Oro Group.

The first quarter’s results brought total sales of packet-optical transport platforms to $4.6 billion for the trailing four quarter period, an increase of 20%, according to the market research firm’s latest Optical Transport Quarterly Report.

Dell’Oro defines the optical packet systems as including three technology segments: Optical Packet-Transport, Optical Packet-Switch, and Optical Packet-Core Switch.

“The optical transport market is aggressively moving towards packet optimized transport systems,” said Jimmy Yu, vice president of optical transport research at Dell’Oro Group. “This move towards optical packet systems has helped a number of equipment manufacturers increase revenues even as the total optical market contracted during the past year. The two lead equipment manufacturers in this product segment for the trailing four quarter period were Ciena and Huawei, each garnering about 22% of the market revenue.”

Dell’Oro says systems sales rose in all geographic regions. Asia, the largest market over the four-quarter period with 39% of total sales, saw spending grow 33% year-on-year. North America, which represents 34% of the market, saw revenues grow 15% from the year-ago quarter. EMEA, worth 21% of the market, enjoyed an 11% increase, while sales for the rest of the world grew 7%.

Dell’Oro’s Optical Transport Quarterly Report covers manufacturers’ revenue, average selling prices, and unit shipments (by speed up to 100 Gbps). The report tracks DWDM long haul terrestrial, WDM metro, multiservice multiplexers (SONET/SDH), optical switch, and optical packet platforms.

For more information on high-speed transmission systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.