JANUARY 15--According to a report from ElectroniCast (San Mateo, CA; www.electronicast.com)--Automated Assembly & Test of Fiber Optic Components--the global consumption of fiberoptic-component-assembly equipment plus related test units will advance impressively, from $722 million in 2000 to $1.71 billion in 2005 (value in 2001 was $429 million). However, a substantial share of this value in 2000 consisted of manually operated technology-augmented manual assembly stations. Manual assembly products, in 2000, held a 20% share of equipment value; $144 million; plus an additional 8% ($58 million) of nominally manual assembly products integrated into semiautomated equipment.
Over the 2000--2005 span, the fully automated equipment value share will expand rapidly, from 2% to 7%, and the semiautomated share will expand slightly, from 69% or $498 million to 74%, or $1.27 billion.
