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Buyers of Optical Components Eye Shorter Supplier Lists, New Study Finds

Posted on: Thursday, 15 April 2004, 06:00 CDT

NEW YORK, April 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Buyers of optical components are looking to reduce the number of suppliers with which they deal, even as the number of components vendors continues to balloon worldwide, according to a major new report released today by Heavy Reading (http://www.heavyreading.com/), the market research division of Light Reading Inc.

The 2004 Optical Components Market Perception Study is based on an exclusive, invitation-only survey of more than 300 purchasers of optical components worldwide, representing more than 200 systems vendors, original equipment manufacturers, and systems integrators. The report includes full survey results of buyer attitudes toward the optical components market in general and their perceptions of 40 of the world's most important suppliers of optical components, including JDS Uniphase , Agilent Technologies , NEC Corp. , and NTT Electronics .

The 2004 Optical Components Market Perception Study offers unique and valuable insight into the effects that the wrenching changes in the optical components supply chain over the past two years have had on buyer perceptions in this critical market. Key findings of the 57-page report include:

-- Buyers of optical components want to reduce the number of vendors with

which they deal. Just over 60 percent of survey respondents said they

now buy components from six or more suppliers. About the same

percentage of respondents said they would prefer to deal with no more

than five different suppliers, with most seeing three to five vendors

as the ideal source list. Those plans could have a major effect on

smaller suppliers, which by some estimates now number more than 2,000

worldwide.

-- Product reliability and product performance are the two most important

factors influencing buyers' choices of optical components suppliers --

even more important than price. More than 54 percent of respondents

said product performance was an essential factor in choosing suppliers,

and more than 61 percent said product reliability was essential.

-- Although big-name vendors are established as market leaders in the eyes

of buyers, smaller suppliers do have significant mindshare in the

market. JDS Uniphase and Agilent received the strongest name

recognition and market leadership scores across the board, but several

smaller vendors posted very strong results, including DiCon Fiberoptics

and Gould Fiber Optics. Those results indicate that the market for

optical components remains open for aggressive competitors -- even as

buyers start to trim back their list of suppliers.

-- China's optical component suppliers are struggling for market

recognition in the West. With a few exceptions, component makers from

China have low visibility among prospective customers -- even as more

product activity and innovation are coming out of that nation.

The 2004 Optical Components Market Perception Report costs $2,950, including full access to a searchable database of all results from the exclusive survey. For more information, or to request a free executive summary, contact:

Dave Williams

Sales Director, Heavy Reading

415-293-8470

dave.williams@heavyreading.com

Press/analyst contact:

Dennis Mendyk

Managing Editor, Heavy Reading

201-587-2154

mendyk@heavyreading.com

About Heavy Reading

Heavy Reading is an independent market research organization offering quantitative analysis of telecom technology to service providers, vendors, and investors. Its mandate is to provide the comprehensive competitive analysis needed today for the deployment of profitable networks based on next-generation hardware and software.

Heavy Reading

CONTACT: Dave Williams, Sales Director, +1-415-293-8470,dave.williams@heavyreading.com, or Press/analyst - Dennis Mendyk, ManagingEditor, +1-201-587-2154, mendyk@heavyreading.com, both for Heavy Reading

Web site: http://www.heavyreading.com/

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