Latest forecast:The global optical fiber market is in recovery period

Oct 26-28, 2020 world conference on optical fiber cable line meeting, the world top event, optical fiber cable industry brought together more than one hundred telecoms network executives, representatives of optical fiber cable manufacturer and solution provider on behalf of the participation and technical experts, etc, to discuss how to get rid of the crisis outbreak era, speed up industrial development.
Michael Finch, Director of Cables at CRU, said 2020 was a memorable year for structural changes in the way people work and socialize, in which fibre networks played an important role.Moreover, the telecommunications industry is facing one of its most significant challenges since the beginning of 2000.
Michael Finch pointed out that although currently under the influence of COVID-19, the global fiber and cable industry is facing declining revenue, shutdowns, shortage of skilled workers, and a sharp drop in demand.However, in the future, with 5G, data centers, edge computing, Internet of Things, smart cities, FTTH and some stimulus measures, the fiber-optic cable industry will see a strong recovery.
Reviving the impact of COVID-19 on the fiber optic cable industry, Michael Finch said that the outbreak has significantly affected the global demand for fiber optic cables as most operators have slowed down the construction of fixed and 5G networks, thus reducing capital expenditure.
 
On a quarterly basis, the global demand for Q1, the most severely affected fiber optic cable, was about 100 million core kilometers, down 12% year-on-year.Q2 demand was about 114 million core km, down 6.3% year on year;In Q3, the epidemic slowed down and operators gradually resumed the progress of network construction, and the demand for optical cables began to pick up to about 129 million core kilometers, an increase of 4.6% year on year.
Looking ahead to Q4, the current CRU Foci Index for October (the core of a monthly survey focusing on the Fibre Optic and Cable market) shows a small contraction in Fibre Optic Cable demand during the month.From a regional point of view, the demand of Europe, Asia Pacific (excluding China), China and South America markets all showed contraction to varying degrees, while the North American market achieved growth.In other respects, the price becomes an index that contracts sharply.
 
In Michael Finch's opinion, the global optical fiber and cable industry is currently in a slow recovery cycle, and there is a possibility of mergers and acquisitions in the whole industry.It is expected that by 2021, the epidemic will be brought under control, the global economy will return to normal, the fixed-line network and 5G construction of operators will be on track, and the global demand for optical fibers and cables is expected to grow by 7%.At the same time, driven by the ubiquitous fiber optic network, the demand for fiber optic cables will maintain a relatively stable growth in the next few years.