Hamamatsu Photonics and MEETOPTICS have announced a partnership to exclusively integrate MEETOPTICS' scientific AI chat tool into Hamamatsu's product portfolio, helping users find photonic devices.
Zhone Technologies has acquired Tellabs Access, deepening its optical LAN capabilities and expanding into government, education, healthcare, transportation and enterprise network markets.
AR glasses display developer Cellid has partnered with Japanese eyewear retailer Megane Top to jointly develop and sell AR glasses.
Schneider Electric has agreed to acquire industrial engineering software company PTC in an all-cash deal worth $22.6 billion. PTC owns the Vuforia augmented reality product line.
Lightwave broadband buildout roundup: Lightcurve is working with Harmonic to deliver coax-based multi-gigabit broadband to apartment buildings, while Bigleaf Networks, GoNetspeed, Kinetic, Rightfiber and Xfinity are also expanding their networks.
Smart contact lens company XPANCEO has partnered with Contamac to advance the development of AR contact lenses using materials already used in FDA-cleared ophthalmic devices.
Optikos, an optical engineering and manufacturing services provider, announced on September 29 the acquisition of Omega Optical, bringing design, manufacturing and testing under one ownership to deliver a complete optical workflow.
Data from NE Times shows that LiDAR installations in Chinese passenger vehicles reached 525,500 units in August 2026. Hesai installed 182,436 units, just 65 fewer than Huawei, and the two together accounted for 69.4%. The growth logic is extending beyond simply adding vehicle models to multiple LiDARs per vehicle, robot perception and 3D spatial mapping.
Why we recommend it: The original paper provides monthly installation and market share data, useful for assessing the automotive LiDAR market landscape
AT&T announced a multiyear fiber optic cable supply agreement with Corning worth more than $3 billion in total. Corning will continue delivering fiber and cable for AT&T's home broadband expansion. AT&T said average monthly traffic per fiber user has surpassed 1 TB, five times the 2016 level.
Why we recommend it: The original paper gives the contract value and user traffic growth, helping to understand the scale of fiber demand driven by AI and video
An expert team from a leading automotive lighting company conducted a supplier qualification review of the Automotive Optoelectronic Display Branch of Zhongguang Optics under SAS standards. Zhongguang Optics passed the audit and obtained qualified supplier status, entering the supply chain for high-end automotive lighting and vision systems.
Suzhou Chenling Optics had its acquisition by Hasan Co. terminated in December 2025 over valuation disagreements, but in the same period it secured leading clients including Luxshare Precision and Dongshan Precision, and extended its optical inspection business into robotics.
CCTV host Dong Qian interviewed Xia Haiyun, chairman of Guangzai Technology, an incubatee of the Hangzhou Institute of Optics and Mechanics, on the program Trust in China, discussing the path of independent innovation in domestic LiDAR.
Jiemei Technology announced on September 22 that its restructuring proposal had been reviewed and approved. The company plans to acquire 100% of the equity of Aifusi Technology through a share issuance, valuing the deal at 915 million yuan, with supporting financing of 228 million yuan, thereby entering the field of optical processing equipment for lithography machines.
Chuangsi Zhiye (Beijing) Optoelectronics Technology held a plaque-unveiling and new plant opening ceremony, with an ultra-precision optical component pilot base entering operation simultaneously. The base represents a total investment of 200 million yuan, covers 5,800 square meters and is planned to house five pilot production lines. The company's revenue has grown from the millions of yuan level to over 200 million yuan.
Huiyu Ecology announced that its majority-owned subsidiary Wuhan Junheng Technology plans to build an R&D and production base in the Wuhan East Lake High-tech Development Zone, replacing and upgrading its existing annual capacity of 1.5 million units. Once completed, the project will add 2 million units of optical module capacity.
Armstrong's rural broadband buildout in West Virginia illustrates the role of public-private partnerships.
Xiaomi launched the 18 Pro series on September 23, featuring a Leica optical triple-camera system with 200-megapixel main and periscope telephoto cameras. The periscope telephoto captures up to nearly 280% more light than the previous generation. The key periscope telephoto module is supplied by O-Film and uses an inner-focus design; O-Film also supplied the previous Xiaomi 17 Pro series.
Hangzhou Fujia Gallium, an incubated company of the Hangzhou Institute of Optics and Mechanics, was approved on September 1 to establish a postdoctoral workstation in Zhejiang Province. It will partner with universities to train talent around core technologies such as ultra-wide-bandgap semiconductor materials.
Xinguang Optoelectronics announced on September 22 plans to invest RMB 100 million to establish a wholly owned subsidiary, Hangzhou Xinguang Precision Measurement Systems Co., Ltd., in Hangzhou, with an initial paid-in capital of RMB 10 million. Its main business will cover optical test systems including optical instruments, measurement and inspection equipment, optoelectronic sensors and projection objectives.
On September 17, Largan Precision spent CNY 1.172 billion to acquire about 2,259 ping of land and 3,695 ping of buildings in Nantun, Taichung. This was its seventh real estate transaction since late June, bringing the total to CNY 8.078 billion. Chairman Lin Enping confirmed in July that the company had received its first fiber array order from a customer, with the land purchases paving the way for mass production in 2027.
Why we recommend it: The original article gives the pace and value of the land purchases, showing the scale of the smartphone lens leader's bet on CPO fiber arrays
An IDC report shows that global handheld smart camera shipments exceeded 5.88 million units in the second quarter of 2026, up 57% year on year, with sales nearing RMB 15.7 billion, up 50% year on year. DJI and Insta360 together held a 93% share. IDC expects shipments to approach 41 million units by 2030.
Shanghai Millimeter Starlight Optics, a specialized micro-optics maker, held a kickoff meeting for its MES and ERP upgrade project on September 15, partnering with Shuyi Gonglian and Kundi to connect data across the entire production chain.
Lianchuang Electronics acknowledged on September 17 that short-term funding pressure had delayed July salary payments for some employees. Its subsidiaries added CNY 46.67 million in overdue debt, bringing the total to CNY 360 million, or 33.92% of the latest audited net assets. The article argues that expansion, weak profitability and softening demand have jointly weighed on its automotive optics business.
Hangzhou Bangqizhou Technology, a company incubated by the Hangzhou Institute of Optics and Mechanics, was named a 2025 Silver-Level Outstanding Supplier by North Night Vision Technology Research Institute Group.
Niantic Spatial and the Singapore Land Authority have signed a memorandum of understanding to assess the technical feasibility of building Singapore's first national-scale Visual Positioning System (VPS).
Nitto Denko held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new plant in the Thang Long II Industrial Park in Hung Yen Province, Vietnam. The project has a total investment of $160 million and will produce polarizers for smartphones and automobiles, among other products. The company is also continuing to expand its OLED polarizer base in Chengdu, China.
Huawei and the Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics have signed a strategic cooperation agreement, making AI + optics a core focus, with Huawei pledging priority support in computing resources and AI teams. Earlier, on September 17, Huawei unveiled the Ascend 960 superpod using near-package optics (NPO) at Huawei Connect 2026, employing 5,500 in-house Hi-ONE optical engines.
Why we recommend it: The source text places the industry-academia partnership alongside the NPO superpod, showing Huawei's overall strategy in optical interconnects and AI optics
Fueled by news of an acquisition of optical communications assets, Landun Optoelectronics' share price has doubled in the past month, but its fundamentals remain weak: revenue continues to shrink, while both revenue and gross margin in its environmental monitoring business have declined. The company has yet to turn a profit and is seeking a breakthrough through the acquisition of optical communications assets.
Foshan Hui'an Digital Technology and the Lianzhou municipal government signed an investment agreement for a high-precision smart optical camera structural components project in Lianzhou, with a total investment of 200 million yuan.
Dinglong said at an investor relations event that the explosive growth in AI computing demand is driving optical communications toward higher speeds, placing greater demands on key upstream materials. The company is therefore expanding into high-end core optical communications materials.
O-Film announced on August 5 that board secretary Zhou Liang had resigned due to a work adjustment, and appointed Li Yin as vice president and board secretary, drawing market attention in recent days.
Dao Ming Optics announced on September 18 that it had won a tender from the Guangdong Special Documents Production Center for raw materials for new energy vehicle license plates, valued at RMB 15.3068 million.
Fujian Forecam announced on September 17 that it plans to invest about RMB 110 million of remaining raised funds in a multi-field precision optical components industrialization project and a high-performance aerospace optical lens R&D project, with the precision optical components project carrying a total investment of RMB 87.0416 million.
RoboSense plans to sell its embodied robotics complete-machine business for RMB 59.878 million and focus on supplying key components to robot manufacturers. Seyond has signed a design win with Chuneng Automotive for a forward-facing primary LiDAR, while Hesai has also announced new moves in spatial intelligence.
The exterior facade of Shihua Technology's high-performance optical adhesive film materials plant is largely complete, with some equipment already being installed. The project is expected to come online in early 2027, with total investment of RMB 2.05 billion.
Sunny Optics has joined a seed funding round worth several hundred million yuan for Zeno Robotics and supplies companies including Unitree, extending its reach into the embodied AI supply chain under its Optics plus AI strategy.
Hongshi Intelligence has formed a strategic partnership with Cao Liangcai's team in Tsinghua University's Department of Precision Instruments to tackle the narrowing of light emission angles and optical energy losses in MicroLED microdisplay light sources, supporting lightweight optical engines for AI glasses.
Asia Optical's interim consolidated revenue rose 20% year on year to HKD 714.4 million, while the loss attributable to shareholders narrowed to about HKD 13.381 million.
Hong Kong-listed Yunyinggu has established two controlled subsidiaries, each 55% owned, to enter the optical interconnect and UCIe IP businesses.
SICC said it is working with leading optics customers to deliver products in micro- and nano-optics, but optical-grade silicon carbide remains in the early stage of demand release, making the timing of meaningful revenue hard to predict.