No.1 share in the world

Fujikura's fusion splicer business now holds the number one share in the world and maintains a position that could be called the de facto standard. However, it began with a series of hardships.

Fujikura's "Optcal Fiber Fusion Sealer" has been widely used in countries around the world and has become a product that can be said to be a global standard in both name and reality. The need for higher functionality of the Optcal Fiber and the need for higher quality of its connections have led to the need for further technological evolution, and the possibilities of the business are now greatly expanding. At present, Fujikura's fusion splicer business has distributors in 60 countries around the world as strategy partners, and has established a meticulous sales and after-sales service network. In addition, we maintain our position as a top manufacturer by constantly strengthening our R&D system that is unrivaled by other companies in technological evolution, our manufacturing line that excels in cost performance, and the sales system that supports marketing strategy. Targeting the global market, we are developing a dynamic business in which development, manufacturing, and sales work as a trinity. The fusion sealer business is now demonstrating its overwhelming strength, but its development project began with a series of hardships.

When Optcal Fiber first appeared, it was thought to be a dream transmitter because it was light, had a large transmission capacity, and could reach long distances because of low loss. However, there was a major problem. That was the difficulty of connecting Optcal Fiber together. However, Fujikura saw a business opportunity in this problem. "Solving this problem will lead to big business!" This idea became the motivation for subsequent research and development. The idea was good, but turning it into reality was not as easy as one might expect. The research team started with just three people. This was in 1976.

At the time, the development of Optcal Fiber itself was still in the trial and error stage, and in addition to the unstable structure and lack of strength, there was no analytical method to measure transmission loss. A series of tedious experiments. Anxiety over the uncertain future. No idea how to make a breakthrough. A growing sense of impatience. In this dead-end situation, a ray of hope finally appeared the following year, when the structure of Optcal Fiber itself stabilized and its strength increased dramatically. Experiments were conducted with two methods: the "V-groove method," in which Optcal Fiber is placed on a precision V-groove and pressed down with dripping matching oil, and the "fusion method," in which Optcal Fiber is placed in the air and thermally fused with arc discharge. However, due to its excellent characteristics and ease of use, the development flow quickly shifted to the "fusion method." Thus, in October 1977, the first practical multimode fusion splicer was completed.

This machine was then exhibited at an exhibition held alongside the Optical Symposium in Washington in 1979. Although it was only a small space in a corner of the exhibition hall, it attracted a huge crowd and drew a lot of attention. There was still no demand at the time, so it did not become a business. However, it marked a world debut that would lead to a rapid advance later on, and was an epoch-making event that set the stage for the company to become number one in global market share.