Analysis of 100G optical module market depth

With the mature development of 100G technology and the advent of 100G products, the deployment of large enterprise networks and data centers is evolving towards 100G. At present, 100G optical modules on the market have CFP, CFP2, CFP4, QSFP28, CPAK and other packaging forms. These different packaging 100G optical modules have different sizes. Among them, QSFP28 packaging type 100G optical modules have the smallest size and the lowest power consumption, making them an ideal choice for data centers and enterprises.

Due to the increasingly mature 100G technology, the market competition for 100G optical modules is becoming increasingly fierce. Many optical module manufacturers have begun to invest in product production and R&D to promote the utilization rate of 100G optical modules. In addition, the extensive use of 25G technology in the connection between servers and ToR switches has also accelerated the upgrading of 25G networks to 100G. In most large-scale data centers, 10G servers and 40G switches are gradually eliminated and replaced by 25G servers and 100G switches, which makes the shipment of 100G switches and modules exceed that of 40G devices.

With the construction of 100G network, the application of 100G optical module has also continued to grow. Now it has become the most widely used and fastest Ethernet connection. Contrary to the massive growth of 100G business, the demand for 40G and 10G has declined. In the future, only when 100G services cannot be deployed due to technical or compatibility problems will low-cost 40G applications be considered. That is to say, when 100G optical modules overcome the supply bottleneck, the market demand for them will continue to grow, and the price gap between 100G and 40G modules will further narrow.

At present, 100G QSFP28 optical modules are the main optical modules in the data communication market. By 2022, 100G QSFP28 optical modules will still occupy the mainstream. Since the transmission distance of 100G QSFP28 PSM4 and 100G QSFP28 CWDM4 optical modules are both 2KM, however, the total application cost of 100G QSFP28 CWDM4 optical modules is relatively low, and the demand will rise to a certain extent in the future. On the contrary, the demand for 100G QSFP28 PSM4 will decline. The demand for 100G QSFP28 SR4 will be relatively stable without too much fluctuation.

The capacity of 100G optical modules will increase gradually in the future, so the average price of 100G optical modules will decrease relatively. In 100G data communication products, CWDM4 may become a mainstream product, and its price decline will narrow. In terms of price, the overall price of 100G digital optical modules will continue to decline to a certain extent. It is estimated that the price will decline by 14% in 2020.