OCTOBER 9, 2006 -- Worldwide EPON, GPON, and BPON equipment sales are expected to surge to $3 billion in 2009, up 432% from $565 million in 2005, reveals Infonetics Research (search Infonetics Research) in its latest PON, FTTH, and EAD Equipment report.
After more than doubling between 2004 and 2005, the number of worldwide PON subscribers is expected to continue to swell as well, from 4.1 million in 2005 to 38 million in 2009.
"The big trend we're seeing with PON is that service providers are really committed to FTTH, as reflected by the recent increase in longer-term contracts being initiated by larger RBOCs and PTTs," reports Jeff Heynen, analyst at Infonetics Research. "Video via RF overlay and IPTV, gaming, and other high-bandwidth applications continue to drive demand for PON and Ethernet FTTH equipment all over the world."
Mitsubishi, with its bulk shipments of EPON optical network terminals (ONTs) to Japan-based service provider NTT, takes over from Hitachi as the leader in 2005 worldwide PON revenue and port market share. Tellabs ranked second in worldwide revenue, while Suminet placed second in ports shipped and third in revenue.
Also revealed in the report:
• Tellabs leads PON revenue in North America, Mitsubishi in Asia Pacific, Motorola in EMEA, and Alcatel in CALA.
• 2.2 million PON ports were shipped worldwide in 2005, and that number is forecast to jump to 13.4 million by 2009.
• The burgeoning Ethernet Access Device (EAD) segment more than quadrupled between 2004 and 2005, and is expected to jump from $91 million in 2005 to almost $685 million in 2009.
• PON and Ethernet FTTH subscribers topped four million worldwide in 2005, and will grow to over 38 million in 2009, 85% of which will be PON-based, 15% Ethernet-based.
• 58% of worldwide PON revenue came from Asia Pacific in 2005, but by 2009, EMEA and CALA will gain market share, while Asia Pacific's share will drop to 46% and North America will lose 1%.
Infonetics' report tracks BPON, EPON, and GPON optical line terminal (OLT) and ONT equipment used in FTTH and FTTB applications; Ethernet switches used in FTTH applications; EADs; and PON, FTTH, and IPTV subscribers.
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