Global optical gear spending dips 3% in Q303

Worldwide sales of optical network hardware dipped 3% sequentially in the third quarter of 2003, according to Infonetics Research. The sector, which sank to $2 billion in the quarter, should rise steadily to more than $10 billion (for the total year) by 2006. “The optical hardware market is stabilizing,” said Principal Analyst Michael Howard in a press release issued by Infonetics. “Telecom service provider capex declines are finished or nearly finished….We expect optical equipment spending worldwide to be relatively stable from 2003 through 2006, and in North America to level out during 2003 and then start slow growth in 2004 to 2005.” In the third quarter, Alcatel kept its spot as the global market share leader with 14% of the revenue, surpassing Huawei, Lucent and Nortel, which each earned 11%. The largest chunk of revenue ($1.1 billion or 56%) was spent on metro Sonet and SDH gear; the leaders in that space, Alcatel and Fujitsu, took in 16% and 14%, respectively, of that $1.1 billion.