moxam: Was Poet not going to build and sell their own pluggable 400 and 800?  So Foxconn will sell a similar product are we not fighting ourselves here?

Yes, and why not?

Remember that it was POET’s original plan to sell optical engines to module makers. This plan didn’t pan out – at least not fast enough –, so POET decided to become a module maker on its own.

Now the original plan came to fruition – late, but in a big way! I’d guess Foxconn will be able to sell much more modules into the market as POET would be able to – at least the POET of today.

Offering its own modules may nevertheless make sense for POET, even if these are practically the same products that Foxconn also sells. POET would have a higher margin and therefore more leeway in terms of pricing. POET could offer its modules at a slightly lower price than Foxconn. POET customers would benefit from this, and POET would still receive more money than if the customers bought the POET optical engines inside the Foxconn products. Foxconn would still benefit because there are more than enough customers who would rather rely on the proven Foxconn name than switch to a (still) unknown supplier.

Above all, however, POET can bring innovative solutions to market very quickly. Without its own module production, POET would have to convince a module manufacturer of its solution each time and go through the long development and qualification cycle. With in-house production, all of this is eliminated.