Optical transceivers used for the passive optical networks (PON) are bi-directional devices that use different wavelengths to transmit and receive signals between the optical line terminal (OLT) at the central office and the optical network units (ONUs) at the end users' premises over a single fiber. One of the key issues for the PON transceivers is the performance/cost ratios measured by the technical specs and the unit cost of the optical hardware. In this paper, we took a close look at the current status of the transceiver technologies in the context of FTTP PON applications. In particular, recent development of the emerging technologies are reviewed.