Technical Insight
Fiber-optic IC market to reach $2.9 billion (Market News)
Fiber-optic IC market to reach $2.9 billion Purchases of high-speed analog and mixed signal ICs used in optical networks will decline by 13% in 2001, according to a new report from Strategies Unlimited. This gloomy figure is tempered by the report s prediction that orders will stabilize by the end of the year. Subsequently, the market will resume its previous growth, reaching $2.9 billion by 2005. ICs for the fiber-optic market include laser drivers, amplifiers, clock and data recovery, MUX/DEMUX and devices to switch traffic in the electronic layer. According to the report, all semiconductor technologies will benefit from the projected market growth. Silicon and SiGe will continue to dominate at lower data rates, whilst GaAs and InP will lead in 40 Gbit/s applications, with emerging InP devices growing the fastest. Two factors are cited as driving the predicted growth. The first is deployment of 40 Gbit/s (OC-768) transmission that will require new levels of performance from ICs. The second is the construction of high-speed metropolitan fiber rings bringing an increase in the number of optical connections requiring high-speed ICs. CMOS, SiGe, GaAs and InP are all competing to fulfill these needs. The report also describes how this market growth and the move towards OC-768 is bringing about changes in the IC industry. Vitesse, Nortel, Conexant, TriQuint, Fujitsu and Anadigics continue to dominate in GaAs ICs, but InP is challenging GaAs with better high-speed performance. As a result, TRW, Vitesse and Nortel have invested significantly in InP technology. "ICs for Optical Communications: 2.5 Gb/s and Beyond, Market Review and Forecast 2001" is available from Strategies Unlimited for further information see "www.strategies-u.com".
