IHS Markit named Cisco, Ciena, Huawei, and Nokia top optical vendors in the analyst firm's latest list of leaders in that area. Huawei kept its crown as the top optical vendor thanks to strong growth in its home country.

The overall IHS ranking included optical equipment vendors that posted more than $1 billion in revenues last year. It was broken into two categories: market presence, which was defined as a vendor’s position in the market, including size, brand recognition, reputation, and financials; and market momentum, which was defined as a vendor’s potential, including growth, reputation for innovation, and development of next generation technologies.

Ciena ranked No. 1  in market momentum and No. 2 in the market presence. Huawei scored No. 1 in market presence and No. 4 in momentum. Cisco ranked No. 2, in momentum and No. 4 in presence and Nokia ranked No. 3 for presence and No. 7 for momentum.

“Leaders perform strongly across all evaluation criteria and vectors,” noted report author Heidi Adams, senior research director for IP and optical networks at IHS Markit, in an except. “Leaders have established a significant presence in the market and have positive momentum, which means they are likely to cement and expand their leadership positions in the future.”

The other six vendors in the report fell into the “challenger” ranking. They included Fujitsu, Coriant, Infinera, ECI, ZTE, and ADVA.

Adams explained that this category included vendors that had positive momentum that put them in a good position to grow their market, but lacked current market share.

Interestingly, no vendor in the ranking was labeled as an “established” player, which are deemed as having a significant presence and strong adoption, but lack market momentum.

Those vendors not included in the ranking because they didn't hit $1 billion in full-year sales were NEC, Padtec, Juniper, and Ekinops.

IHS had previously cited Nokia, Ciena, and Huawei as garnering the most work from service providers as part of their optical networking plans. According to that survey of 28 service providers, Nokia and Huawei were cited as being part of network deployments by 39 percent of respondents, each. Ciena was connected with 32 percent of deployments.

In a separate report, IHS noted that first quarter global optical network hardware revenues were flat year over year at $3.1 billion. More concerning was that the market was down 25 percent sequentially. China posted a robust 7 percent year-over-year surge in spending that was undercut by steep declines in the Western Hemisphere.

Huawei was the worldwide leader in the space with 26 percent market share in first quarter. Nokia was No. 2 in revenues, boosted by strong growth in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. Ciena was No. 3 globally thanks to its leadership position in North America. ZTE came in at No. 4, though Adams noted the vendor "faces a difficult journey ahead with the impact of U.S. sanctions and a subsequent halt in major operations."

ZTE is in the midst of a company and operational shake up related to the company violating a trade ban by selling equipment to Iran and North Korea that used components from U.S. companies. The vendor in May announced it had stopped all “major operating activities” in its Shenzhen, China, factory after the Trump Administration announced the company was banned for seven years from using components made in the U.S. It has since resumed its business after reaching an agreement with the U.S. Commerce Department in which it will pay $400 million as part of the penalty for the violations.