Suppliers of fiber-optic patch cords in China continue to grow their selections of plastic types while maintaining the production of conventional units to widen market reach. They target rising requirement in short-range applications for the former variant, stressing its advantages of light weight, high flexibility and low cost.
For this reason, some companies are strengthening manufacturing capability. Anhui Zhongxi, which also specializes in plastic optical fiber, will be able to churn out 500,000km annually once the second phase of its project is completed this year. The maker offers a range with <0.2dB/m attenuation, <0.5dB connection loss, 650N•m wavelength and -40 to 70 C operating temperature. Units have up to 100m or custom cable lengths.
Local plastic fiber-optic patch cords adopt PMMA as core material, although there remain models based on PC and PS. Releases are widely used in home, office, automotive and industrial networks. The last includes solar energy systems.
At present, plastic kinds account for an estimated 20 to 30 percent of China’s yield for the line, a share that is expected to climb further.
Besides these initiatives, makers such as E-Photics (Shenzhen) Communications Inc. sustain efforts to improve product features. The supplier has introduced small-diameter models, which have crushing, twisting, pulling, bending and animal bite resistance.
For most enterprises, however, customization still drives R&D and manufacture, from which they generate 70 percent of business.
The segment is projected to achieve 10 percent higher shipments this year, surpassing optical fibers, according to the China Center for Industry Information Development or CCID. The latter product will reach 143 million core kilometers in the months ahead from 132 million in 2013.
Most companies attribute growth to the continued FTTx deployment in the country. By 2013, the number of household users hit 189 million, increasing by 19 million from the previous year, according to CCID. In coming months, this will climb further by 10 percent. Suppliers are also counting in demand from the automotive and medical equipment sectors.
Encouraged by these developments, some large makers are investing to build more capacity. Yangtze Optical is constructing the YOFC Science Park, a 230,000sqm facility in the Wuhan East Lake High-Tech Development Zone in Hubei province. The first phase, which costs $69.9 million, will start operating in March 2015.
Hundreds of makers constitute the line in China, 80 percent of which are locally owned.
The Pearl River and Yangtze River Delta regions remain the key hubs. Other suppliers are based in Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces. Major supplier Yangtze Optical is in Chengdu in the latter area.