40 000 persons or so attended the Optical Fiber Conference including exhibition (OFC) in Anaheim, California in March 2001. I was one of them. Still optical communication as I recall was in its big upward trend, but was soon to be hit by the "telecom bubble". I was working as Component Engineer with optical components for optical transmission systems, e.g. DWDM, and other optical applications.
At this time production was going in high volumes, many start up companies existed and as a system manufacturer it was a hard work to get hold of components as it was shortage on the market.
This changed drastically. Suddenly the customers, telecom operators and alike, cancelled orders. System manufacturers cancelled orders. Suddenly everyone had so much in stock that was not needed. Not to mention all waste of working hours, smart designs and so on people had put som much efforts into.
Companies closed parts of their operations, downsized, or ceased to exist. Several years after the telecom bubble I got e-mails about auctions of manufacturing equipment and more.
I believe that was good opportunities for new companies starting or expanding after the crises.
Now in this pandemic, sadly many companies will for sure downsize or close the business. It is sad. But I believe it also will give a lot of surplus equipment of all kind, stock and so on put on the market from those unfortunate business. For other business who manage the crises, and for new companies starting, I believe there can be good opportunities to purchase all kind of equipment and goods to good prices.
Henrik Hemrin
29 April 2020
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