9/19/2006 -- The optical networking segment is simmering, and a vendor -- other than perennial market leader Alcatel -- has made the most of it.

That?'s the conclusion of recent research from market watcher Infonetics, which found that worldwide optical network hardware revenue surged by nearly one-fifth between Q1 and Q2 of this year, reaching $3.1 billion, mainly due to big gains by Huawei and Alcatel.

That?'s just the beginning. According to Infonetics, the optical network hardware market is projected to grow by 14 percent between last year and 2009, when it could amount to $12.3 billion. ?Huawei is the big story this quarter, with sales up an amazing 83 percent and a larger foothold in the EMEA region,? said Infonetics principal analyst Michael Howard, in a statement. ?

For the first time in optical network hardware market history, Alcatel is not in first place. Huawei jumped from 4th to 1st in one quarter, a rare feat. Next quarter may be a different story.?

According to Infonetics, Huawei was number one, followed by Alcatel, Nortel and Tellabs. Nearly every vendor benefited from surging demand, however -- including Cisco Systems Inc., which reported a quarter-over-quarter revenue gain of 23 percent. And even though once-and-future market leader Alcatel got bumped from the top spot by a surging Huawei, its own performance was far from disappointing, with quarter-over-quarter growth of 25 percent.

Getting down to brass tacks, WDM ROADM switch hardware sales were up by 23 percent, while metro equipment made up a 68 percent of all optical network hardware revenue, with long haul accounting for 32 percent. North America accounted for the bulk of optical network hardware sales (35 percent), followed by EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, 33 percent), 27 percent from Asia-Pacific, and 5 percent from CALA (that?s the Caribbean and Latin America). -Stephen Swoyer