Probe Sees Optical Switch Upturn

CEDAR KNOLLS, N.J. -- Though the optical switch market declined by 11% in 2002, it did quite well overall considering the dramatic decline in other optical market segment revenues, reports Probe Research. Probe projects revenues to begin a steady increase in 2004, yielding a 143% total increase by 2007. Probe's research shows that North America has traditionally been the strongest market for optical switches and is expected to remain so. "We expect to see more optical switches to be deployed in the networks of the former RBOCs," forecasts Probe analyst Maria Zeppetella. To date, most of the North American optical switch deployments have been in IXCs and some ILECs. While optical switch sales in North America dwarfed those in Europe during 2001, Zeppetella notes that European sales ramped up considerably in 2002. "As vendors have released products that are designed for either regional switching or smaller central offices than what are common in the U.S., sales in Europe have taken off." Zeppetella also reports that large PTTs and telcos in the Asia/Pacific Rim were early adopters of optical switches, and interest in optical switching continues to grow in countries such as China and Taiwan. The Asia/Pacific and Rest of World regions show the highest compound annual growth rates for optical switch revenues over the forecast period. Probe presents market analysis and forecasts of the global optical switch market in its latest Optical Infrastructure Markets report. "Global Optical Switch Market, 2001-2007" details the trends and segments the market by geographical region. Vendor market shares are provided as well as commentary for the following companies: Alcatel, Calient, Ciena, Corvis, Lucent, Nortel, Sycamore and Tellium. Probe Research Inc.