The optical infrastructure market perked up by 9% in 2013, buoyed partly by a 16% year-on-year jump in the fourth quarter, according to ACG Research.
The research firm reported that of the six product segments tracked within the optical market, five reported positive quarterly gains.
The long-haul DWDM segment returned to the top position based on revenue with 45.6% quarter-over-quarter growth. The metro WDM segment was the second-fastest growing segment, delivering 15.9% quarter-over-quarter growth.
Only the POTS segment experienced negative quarterly growth, down 4.1%, but was up 42.1% YoY. All the other product segments of MSPP, optical cross connect and SONET/SDH saw demand increase and reported positive QoQ growth.
In the fourth quarter, not all vendors benefited equally from the increased spending, with some significantly missing their revenue targets. For the top 10 positions, this caused a reshuffle of positions 2-8.
Huawei maintained its lock on first place and reported its highest quarter for optical revenue ever. Cisco managed to maintain its position at No. 6, although its quarterly performance was below target.
The advancers included Alcatel-Lucent, Ciena, Ericsson and Coriant - all rising one rank. The decliners included ZTE and Fujitsu, both losing multiple ranks.
Asia Pacific reported growth of 25.6% QoQ and 27% YoY. This was largely driven by Huawei and the company's wins with both China Mobile and China Telecom.