JDSU Steps Up the Pace

JDSU ventured far outside its core strength when it took on Acterna. And some critics see it as an integration nightmare with almost nothing in common with the company's development of lasers and transponders.

But company reps call it a great entry into an adjacent market, with 250 new customers to sell to.

Gudmundson concedes that integrating Acterna's Germantown, Md.-based operations, with 1,700 employees, will be a challenge.

"We are trying," he says, "to keep people happy, on board and engaged." But Gudmundson declined to provide any progress report or retention target.

Overall, the JDSU message seems to be that the company is moving in the right direction and growing. But don't expect the pace to be too quick.

Gudmundson puts annual optical systems' sales growth somewhere between 5% and 10%. Similarly, he expects the Acterna tests and measurements unit to deliver between 5% and 15% growth.

Wall Street, however, seems a little more optimistic. Analysts polled by Reuters Research expect 2007 sales to increase about 12% over 2006 levels.