From 400G to 1.6T: Optical module technology iterations are accelerating, and LPO technology is gradually being implemented.

The domestic silicon photonics industry is experiencing rapid development, primarily due to the advancement of A! technology. According to a recent report released by research firm Dero, by 2027, 20% of Ethernet data center switch ports will be used to connect to acceleration servers supporting artificial intelligence (AI) tasks. A report by Lightcounting, another research firm, indicates that global sales of Ethernet optical modules for the cloud data center market will continue to grow, projected to exceed US$30 billion by 2030, with sales of Ethernet optical modules for AI clusters reaching nearly US$20 billion.

Demand for 800G optical modules surges: Market sales are expected to exceed 18 million units this year.

Currently, 400G optical modules have been commercially deployed on a large scale in data centers. Due to the high bandwidth requirements for large-scale AI model training/inference (a single GPU requires over 100Gbps interconnect), market demand for 800G modules is surging. According to the Lightcounting report, 800G optical modules will begin to be used in 2023, with a starting volume of approximately 7.5 million units in 2024. Demand is expected to reach 18 million units in 2025, and will remain high after 2026. 1.6T optical modules will begin to be used in 2025, with a total volume of approximately 2.7 million units.