Exfo Electro-Optical Engineering has been named recipient of the growth strategy leadership award by Frost and Sullivan for the third consecutive year
The award is presented annually to the company whose organic growth strategy delivers the largest market-share gains in the global fiber-optic test equipment (FOTE) market during the past year.
According to Frost and Sullivan, a leading market research firm in the telecommunications test and measurement industry, Exfo increased its overall market share from 10.3% in 2004 to 11.0% in 2005 for third place overall.
Dating back to 2001 when Exfo had a 6.4% market share, the company has continuously made significant gains, both in good and more challenging market environments.
Frost and Sullivan estimated the global FOTE market to be $631.9 million in 2005, including $310.9 million for the portable installation and maintenance (I+M) test market segment.
Based on Frost and Sullivan's market data, Exfo improved its leadership position in the portable I+M test market segment from 22.2% in 2004 to 23.0% in 2005.
"Despite a highly competitive and consolidating marketplace, we have captured market share year-in and year-out," said Etienne Gagnon, Exfo's vice-president of product management.
"More specifically during the past year, our domination in the fiber-to-the-x (FTTx) test segment enabled us to grow market share, while most of our peers were flat or down according to Frost and Sullivan".
Exfo's market-share gains in 2005 were mainly secured in the portable I+M test space, where it holds a leadership position.
The company is the market leader for several product lines including optical loss test sets (OLTSs), handheld power meters, handheld light sources, polarization mode dispersion analyzers and finished among the top two suppliers for portable optical time-domain reflectometers (OTDRs).
Not content to rest on its laurels, Exfo introduced three key products in early 2006: AXS-100 OTDR, PPM-352B-EG Passive Optical Network (PON) Power Meter and FTB-200 Compact Platform.
The AXS-100 OTDR is a lightweight handheld test instrument designed for FTTx networks; the PPM-352B-EG PON Power Meter has been optimized for ethernet PON and gigabit PON architectures in FTTx networks; and the FTB-200 Compact Platform can host two test modules for multi-layer and multi-medium testing in both access and metro networks.
"These three innovative test solutions should enable Exfo to further increase its leadership position in the portable I+M test segment in 2006," Gagnon added.
