CIOE Preview: RMB 7.1 Billion Order Lands and Brokerages Stay Bullish

C114 News, September 8 (Liu Dingzhou) — The 27th China International Optoelectronic Exposition (CIOE) opens tomorrow with a grand launch.

With optical communications becoming core infrastructure for AI, this year's CIOE is unquestionably a hot ticket, drawing enormous attention. The show also runs jointly with the IICIE International Integrated Circuit Innovation Expo and elexcon Shenzhen International Electronics Show, with a combined exhibition area of 320,000 square meters, delivering full AI computing coverage from "optoelectronics" to "light—chip—memory—electronics."

Unlike last year's CIOE, where optical modules were the sole star, this year optical fiber has also taken center stage, driven by AI computing demand. Upstream players across the supply chain, including optical components and optical chip makers, have stepped into the spotlight, with many gaining prominence. Notably, two major industry stories broke recently, warming up the show's opening.

Goldman Sachs sharply raises the ceiling for the optical module industry

The hottest story came on the morning of September 7, when top global investment bank Goldman Sachs released its latest global optical module report, sharply raising its industry forecasts. Goldman Sachs expects the global optical module market to reach about $67.7 billion, $131.4 billion and $148.5 billion in 2026, 2027 and 2028 respectively, up 33%, 81% and 115% from previous projections.

On the product side, shipments of 800G and above optical modules will reach 78.22 million, 144 million and 171 million units in 2026, 2027 and 2028 respectively, with corresponding market sizes of about $45.2 billion, $107.5 billion and $129.5 billion, representing a compound annual growth rate of about 69% from 2026 to 2028.

Of these, 1.6T optical modules will enter a phase of rapid volume ramp in 2026, with shipments rising from 32.83 million units to 71.36 million in 2027, before falling back to 54.85 million in 2028 as 3.2T modules gain penetration. 3.2T optical modules are expected to begin shipping at scale in 2027, reaching 23.04 million units that year and surging to 67.73 million in 2028.

Earlier, LightCounting raised its forecast for Ethernet optical module demand in May (up 65% year on year from nearly $18 billion in sales in 2025) and lifted it again in August, projecting 73% growth in Ethernet optical module sales in 2026, to about $30 billion. Goldman Sachs' latest forecast is twice LightCounting's and more optimistic about the next two years.

Setting aside which forecast proves more accurate, both LightCounting and Goldman Sachs are raising their optical module market expectations mainly on the back of cloud companies' capital expenditure, particularly that of North American cloud providers, whose AI infrastructure spending is expected to approach $1 trillion in 2026. Demand is driving rapid iteration of underlying AI technologies; Goldman Sachs expects the number of 1.6T optical modules used per GPU on NVIDIA's Rubin Ultra platform to rise from 0 to 2, while 3.2T modules increase from 3 to 5.

One can imagine how crowded the booths of vendors showcasing 1.6T/3.2T optical modules at CIOE will be, with Goldman Sachs providing such a powerful boost.

China Mobile awards $7.1 billion fiber optic cable contract

Rewind two more days: on September 5, China Mobile's centralized procurement project for general fiber optic cable products for 2026 to 2027 was finally awarded after a rare failed tender. The project has a budget of 7.1 billion yuan, with 18 vendors winning contracts; 17 of them bid 7.1 billion yuan.

As an industry leader, China Mobile's centralized fiber optic cable procurement has traditionally drawn vendors scrambling to bid. Why was this year so "nail-biting"? The reason lies in the enormous demand from AI computing power for optical interconnects (and fiber optic drones), which has created an entirely new market and expanded the imagination of the fiber optic industry. The price of standard G.652.D fiber has risen from less than RMB 20 per fiber-km a year ago to more than RMB 100 per fiber-km; the price of G.657.A2 specialty fiber, suited to high-end computing power, has also surged from RMB 32 per fiber-km to more than RMB 200 per fiber-km.

With cloud companies spending big to snap up fiber, the tens of billions in capital expenditure of carriers suddenly looks a little inadequate. Of course, as the world's largest mobile operator, China Mobile's order volume remains substantial: a procurement of nearly 70 million fiber-km is the bread and butter for major fiber manufacturers.

Leading domestic fiber manufacturers such as YOFC, Hengtong Optic-Electric, FiberHome Telecommunication Technologies, Zhongtian Technology and Tongding Interconnection all appeared at this year's CIOE, while overseas fiber leader Corning also exhibited. Fiber manufacturers' preform and fiber production capacity, their ability to innovate in cutting-edge fiber technology, and their investments along the fiber industry chain will be key focuses for the industry.

CIOE strategic partner media "Optical Interconnect" debuts

With AI computing demand surging and the entire optical communications industry running hot, this year's CIOE will shine with dazzling brilliance.

Against this backdrop, "Optical Communications PRO," a leading industry media platform under C114 focused on optical communications, has officially been renamed "Optical Interconnect" and will serve as the strategic partner media of CIOE, providing in-depth coverage of the show throughout.

AI computing power is reshaping the optics value chain. The word "communications" no longer encompasses this industry's present and future, making this renaming timely. has built a professional following of more than 100,000 and will serve companies across the entire industry chain with an all-new suite of products, content and services — the Optical Interconnect Index, membership services, media services and GEO services — helping the supply chain thrive and seize the opportunities of the AI era!