The global silicon photonics market is currently in the very early stages of its growth phase, with growth forecast to reach a CAGR of 27% from 2014 to 2020. As with any new technological innovation there has been number of setbacks at prominent silicon photonics manufacturers, such as Intel. Intel has been at the forefront of research into silicon photonics technology, with the company undertaking R&D for the last 10 years in order to properly understand all of the potential applications it may have.

The main reason that Intel has delayed the release of its highly anticipated silicon photonics products is because the first batch of component modules were found to not meet Intel's strict specifications and quality requirements. A new batch of modules is currently in production, which means silicon photonics cables are now expected to first be installed in 2016.

"What has made this possible is being able to manufacture billions of transistors cheaply and one thing that Intel does very well is manufacture silicon. We are going to print silicon optical components," said Intel's Silicon Photonics Operation, Jeff Demain."That means we can do it cheaply and it means we have a new era of optics. This is the breakthrough. It has taken a decade of R&D - we went through the phase of creating the technologies, then through a phase of launching them."

Although the global silicon photonics market has a long way to go before it reaches its full potential, it is forecast to total US$497mn by 2020, thanks mainly to the telecommunications market segment. As of 2013 telecommunication applications comprised of the largest sector in terms of sales for the silicon photonics market. However, as data communication technologies increase this application is forecast to grow significantly in the near future, as this segment will require far higher data transfer rates than are currently available.

Intel's delay in releasing its silicon photonics products is expected to have a major impact to customers who have been waiting for this new technology for some time and have specific applications for it immediately. However, this will only be a relatively small number of companies, with most larger customers being able to adapt to the new timeframe. Besides Intel the other key companies operating in the global silicon photonics market are Japanese-based Hamamatsu Photonics, U.S.-based Finisar Corporation and Mellanox Technologies, although Intel has been the major proponent of this new technology.

http://www.companiesandmarkets.com/News/Industrial/Global-silicon-photonics-market-leader-Intel-pushes-back-vital-component-module/NI10099