Optical Communications Industry Weekly Report- Week 1 Jan

• LC: Sales of AOCs, DACs and AECs to hit US$2.8bn by 2028

According to a new report on High-speed Cables, LPO and CPO, from LightCounting, sales of high-speed cables are projected to more than double over the next five years, reaching US$2.8 billion by 2028.

LightCounting has increased its forecast for DACs because new 100G SerDes enabled longer than expected reach of passive copper cables based on 100G-per-lane designs, including 400G, 800G and 1.6T DACs.

Sales of AOCs are projected to grow at 15% CAGR in 2024-2028, but sales of DACs and AECs will ramp at 25% and 45% CAGR, respectively.

• IDC: Spending On Generative AI Solutions To Double In 2024, Cross $150 Billion By 2027

An updated forecast from International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that enterprises will invest more than $19.4 billion worldwide on GenAI solutions in 2023. This spending, which includes GenAI software as well as related infrastructure hardware and IT/business services, is expected to more than double in 2024 and reach $151.1 billion in 2027 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 86.1% over the 2023-2027 forecast period.

GenAI Infrastructure, including hardware, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and system infrastructure software (SIS), will represent the largest area of investment during the build out phase. But GenAI Platform and Application Software will gradually overtake infrastructure by the end of the forecast with a five-year CAGR of 99.6%. Similarly, GenAI Services, including IT and business services, will nearly equal infrastructure spending by the end of the forecast with a five-year CAGR of 94.2%.