Mar 20 2008
Since its introduction in 2003, reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexers (ROADMs) have revolutionized the operation of communication networks. The market has grown at breakneck speed, aided by a significant and sudden spurt in bandwidth usage in the initial years and still continues to maintain a good growth rate.
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, World Opto ROADM Markets, finds that the market earned revenues of $383 million in 2007 and estimates this to reach $810 million in 2013.
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“As ROADMs allow networks to be reconfigured using software from a network operation center (NOC) and eliminate the need for additional equipment or man power at the site, they provide more flexibility and reduced operational cost than dense wavelength division multiplexers (DWDMs),” says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Jaydeep Bhattacharjee. “ROADMs’ ease of maintenance is a huge help to network carriers in tackling the problems associated with unpredictable and irregular growth in bandwidth-in-demand.”
The remarkable growth of the global ROADM market has bowled over market watchers; however once its speed is spent, the market could become more competitive. This market maturity will prompt companies to increasingly focus on research and development (R&D) and marketing.
Most ROADM businesses have already begun investing handsomely in R&D to produce more advanced components and systems, despite the huge gap between R&D initiation and completion and irregular demand for finished products. The market’s intense focus on R&D will not only help it steal a march over its fixed counterpart, DWDMs, but will also ease the pricing pressure on its steeply priced products.
Robust R&D infrastructure is imperative in a market that experiences constant drops in prices and hikes in production and marketing expenses. Manufacturers have to price their products competitively to survive in this aggressive market.
“Since prices have reached a level where companies can sustain growth only at large volumes, manufacturers have to make an extra effort to provide better and more effective customer care,” observes Bhattacharjee. “They should also show a keenness to meet the exact requirement of their customers by providing them with the right solution package.”
So far, ROADMs are still more expensive than DWDMs. However, as manufacturers are constantly working on providing better and more integrated solutions at lower costs, this scenario is expected to change and ROADMs will find higher uptake in the developing countries as well.
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