Sales of fiber optic componentsand the equipment to assemble themwill recover in the next few years.
During the fiber optics boom from 1999 to 2000, photonic components were produced faster than they were consumed. When the market turned south in 2001, telecommunications equipment manufacturers met their needs for photonic components from existing inventories. "This excess inventory has been exhausted, and new component deliveries will be required next year and beyond," Montgomery told an audience of more than 100 people at Assembly West, Fiberoptic Automation Expo and Nepcon West, which were held Dec. 4 to 6 at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, CA.