February 11, 2000
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Sumitomo Elec To Raise Optical Comm Parts Capacity-Nikkei
Dow Jones Newswires
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. (5802 or J.SUE) will spend Y10 billion to boost output capacity for optical communications equipment parts 400% by September compared with the same period a year earlier, according to the Saturday morning edition of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei).
The company has also invested in U.S. start-up firms and will develop advanced technologies with them, sources at Sumitomo Electric said, according to Nikkei.
Demand for parts for use in optical communications is rising rapidly and annual global sales are estimated to reach Y2 trillion by 2003.
Sumitomo Electric will raise production of devices such as optical data links -- used to transmit data by converting electric signals into light -- and passive optical components, which process light signals. To this end, the company will renovate and expand production lines at its Osaka and Yokohama plants, according to the sources.
Sumitomo Electric is also one of the world's largest optical fiber makers and boasts an extensive lineup of products for use in optical communications.
Thanks to the massive growth in the area, the firm will likely see sales of optical communications equipment parts leap 70% to Y25 billion for the year ending this March. In the fiscal year beginning in April, that figure is expected to soar to just under Y40 billion, comparable to the sales of Lucent Technologies, one of the world's largest manufacturers of such parts.
The Japanese company has already invested $1 million each in California-based firms WaveSplitter Technologies Inc., which makes passive optical components, and NewPort Communications, a manufacturer of optical data link parts. |
