Abstract

The Optical Fiber Communication Conference & Exposition (OFC) weathered the burst of the telecommunications bubble much better than did many telecom companies. Exhibit sales were up, while attendance was down only slightly, to 33,000. The 13% drop from the record high registered at OFC 2001 was minor compared to job cuts in the 50% range at some telecom companies and to stocks that plunged over the course of the past year to a fraction of their peak values. The total of 1,204 paid exhibitors represented a healthy increase over last year's 970, although some empty booths were scattered around the sprawling Anaheim Convention Center, and some exhibiting companies appeared to have scaled down their displays.

© 2002 Optical Society of America