CIOE (China International Optoelectronic Exposition) is a very big show, covering 13 separate halls at the Shenzhen World Exhibition and Convention Center (WECC). Any report from CIOE will inevitably be like the old parable of the blind men describing the elephant – not comprehensive and biased based on the area of focus.
Cignal AI was invited to speak twice, once on optical circuit switching (OCS) and once on co-packaged and near-packaged optics (CPO/NPO). We also had the opportunity to meet with many Chinese component suppliers, equipment suppliers, and operators while at the show. In this report, we will cover some of the things that we learned at the show, some of the trends that we saw, and some of the more interesting conversation topics.
In general, vendors and operators were optimistic, seeing growth in optics unimpeded through at least 2027 and probably 2028. As reported by US manufacturers, long-term agreements are now common throughout the supply chain (customer to vendor and vendor to supplier) with critical elements like the supply of DSPs and InP, not end market demand, limiting overall growth.
In this report:
- China vs the US – Economics
- China vs the US – Technology
- Growing hyperscale influence in China
- NPO is seen as promising if not inevitable
- OCS supply continues to proliferate
- Quick Takes
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