Technical Insight
Fiber-optic analog IC market growing (Market News)
According to a report by Strategy Analytics, the fiber-optic analog IC market is expected to grow from $350 million in 1999 to $1.6 billion in 2004 (see ), with GaAs technology being predominant. The GaAs analog IC devices prevalent in fiber-optic systems include laser drivers, transimpedance amplifiers (TIAs), and devices to multiplex and demultiplex signals. The explosion in demand for increased bandwidth is shifting the focus of the technology to the 10 Gbit/s market. While the current economic slowdown has resulted in GaAs companies reducing their earnings forecasts, the fiber-optics market for analog ICs will provide a growth area for the GaAs industry. However, with the performance of SiGe encroaching into the areas traditionally the domain of GaAs, the GaAs companies will need to significantly reduce their average selling prices if they are to remain competitive. The report also predicts that the move towards 10 Gbit/s and beyond will result in a shift away from bare die to modules. There will be increased integration of TIAs with photodetector diodes with-in modules for use in Gigabit Ethernet and Fibre Channel datacom markets. The 40 Gbit/s market is expected to become the second largest market for fiber-optic systems by 2004 and will be dominated by InP. "Fibre-Optic Analog ICs Market" is available from Strategy Analytics - see "www.strategyanalytics.com".
