New Report Announces Shipments of Active Optical Cables Exceeds 2011 Expectations

LightCounting Market Research to Discuss These Findings and More at OFC/NFOEC 2012


EUGENE, OR--(Marketwire - Feb 28, 2012) - LightCounting, a market research company focused on the in-depth study of high speed interconnects for the datacom, telecom, and consumer communications markets, has released a new report titled, "Active Optical Cables: Supercomputers to SmartPhones 2011." The report presents detailed analysis of the latest sales data, market trends and technology for Active Optical Cables (AOCs) used in supercomputers and data centers. The report includes projections for the new 14Gbps FDR and 28G EDR for InfiniBand and 40G Ethernet AOCs. Also included is extensive analysis of AOCs used in consumer and commercial video applications using HDMI, USB, DisplayPort, and Thunderbolt for digital signage, PCs, HDTVs, and zero client PC terminals. The report also analyzes the outlook for embedded 5.6G AOCs used in mobile devices such as ultrabooks, tablets and smartphones.

"Shipments of InfiniBand AOCs has expanded from the TOP25 to the broader TOP100 supercomputers market unit shipment are rapidly expanding. Additionally, the adoption of AOCs in the traditional data center Ethernet space is starting to happen faster than we expected," said Brad Smith, senior vice president and chief analyst for LightCounting. "2011 unit shipments topped 305,000 units dominated by InfiniBand with a respectable showing in Ethernet markets. This business grew over 70% annually and the average selling prices dropped very rapidly. OEM prices have reached a point where an entire 10 meter cable with two transceiver ends costs less than a single parallel optical transceiver."

This report presents data on annual AOC shipments, revenues, average selling prices for 2007-2011 and forecasts this market for 2012-2016. It analyzes technologies, market trends, protocol transitions, data rates, and MSAs, as well as potential applications of AOCs in disk and SSD storage, GPU clusters, and board-level interconnects using SAS and PCI Express AOCs. The report is based on confidential sales information and detailed analysis of publicly available data released by leading component and equipment manufacturers. A report abstract is available at: http://www.lightcounting.com/reports.cfm.

LightCounting at OFC/NFOEC 2012:
The LightCounting team will be at OFC/NFOEC 2012 at the Los Angeles Convention Center from March 6-8, 2012. Learn more about trends in Optical Ethernet and the Data Center during two panel presentations to be hosted during the exhibition.

Lighting Up the Data Center
March 6, 2012 from 3:30-5:00 pm PT
Theatre II, LA Convention Center

Next-Generation 100G Optical Ethernet
March 7, 2012 from 1:00-2:00 pm PT
Theatre II, LA Convention Center

About LightCounting:
LightCounting, LLC, a leading optical communications market research company, offering semi-annual market update, forecast and state of the industry reports based on analysis of publicly available information and confidential data provided by more 20 leading module and component vendors. LightCounting is the optical communications market's source for accurate, detailed and relevant information necessary for doing business in today's highly competitive market environment. Privately held, LightCounting is headquartered in Eugene, Oregon. For more information, go to: http://www.LightCounting.com or follow us on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/lightcounting.