Business & IndustrySignal
Optical Fiber Industry Expands on Surging AI Computing Infrastructure Demand
Artificial intelligence computing centers displace traditional telecommunications as the primary growth engine for optical fiber, tightening global supply and driving broad price increases.
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Illustrative image; not a photograph of this reported event. Photo by panumas nikhomkhai on Pexels
The Brief
Xinhua News Agency reported that computing power infrastructure has overtaken conventional telecommunications to emerge as the primary growth engine for the optical fiber sector, driven by surging artificial intelligence data center construction.
Data center construction for artificial intelligence requires vast clusters of graphics processing units that consume multiple times the fiber connections of equivalent general data centers, while demanding lower latency, lower loss, and higher density.
Because optical preform production lines shifted to manufacture advanced specialized varieties, output for middle and low-end optical fibers was squeezed, causing standard G.652.D fiber to experience substantial price increases alongside premium products.
TrendForce calculations showed that the global optical fiber capacity utilization rate rose to 92%, while industry inventories dropped from 4 months in 2024 to 1 month, leaving order backlogs for certain key manufacturers extending into the first quarter of 2027.
Why it matters
Optical preform production lines were redirected toward specialized high-end varieties, squeezing the production of middle and low-end products and driving standard G.652.D fiber prices upward alongside specialized G.657.A2 fiber.
China context
Over the past twenty years, optical fiber industry prosperity was determined by telecommunications cycles, where rising demand prompted price increases and cycle downturns brought inventory destocking.
Key Takeaways
- 1CRU forecast global data center optical fiber demand to grow 20.74% annually from 2025 to 2030, compared to 2.47% for telecommunications.
- 2Artificial intelligence computing clusters require significantly denser optical fiber connections and superior transmission performance compared to traditional general data centers.
- 3TrendForce calculated that global optical fiber inventory dropped from 4 months in 2024 to 1 month as utilization reached 92%.
Sources
- 算力成光纤行业第一增长引擎 — Xinhua News Agency · 11/6/2026