Global optical network hardware revenue (WDM and SONET/SDH) in second-quarter 2015 was up 22% on first-quarter 2015 but flat on a year ago, according to the Q2/2015 edition of the quarterly IHS Infonetics Optical Network Hardware report. Europe is the only major world region that posted positive year-on-year growth, up 8%.
"With three consecutive quarters of good results, Europe is signaling a reversal of the terrible optical spending that we've seen in the region over the last five years," says analyst Andrew Schmitt, research director for carrier transport networking at market research firm IHS. "This strength is concentrated in Alcatel-Lucent, Ciena and Infinera," he adds.
"When taking into account currency effects, the results are even stronger - adjusted for exchange rate, optical spending in Europe saw a 30% year-over-year growth rate in the second quarter when measured in euros," Schmitt notes.
In the Asia-Pacific region, spending on optical network hardware in Q2 surged 36% from last quarter, but was down 2% year-on-year.
The report examines the vendors, markets and trends related to metro and long-haul WDM and SONET/SDH equipment used to build optical networks. It also tracks Ethernet optical, SONET/SDH/POS and WDM ports. On a rolling four-quarter basis, spending on WDM equipment further extended 3 years of consecutive growth, with Q2 up 23% on last quarter and up 6% on a year ago (comprising 86% of total worldwide optical hardware revenue in Q2).
Vendors tracked by the report include Adtran, Adva, Alcatel-Lucent, Ciena, Cisco, Coriant, Cyan, ECI, Fujitsu, Huawei, Infinera, NEC, Padtec, Transmode, TE Connectivity, Tyco Telecom, and ZTE. During Q2/2015, Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) announced its intention to merge with Nokia, which IHS does not expect to have any transformative effects on ALU's optical business or the competitive landscape.
