A research report indicates that after experiencing price pressure in the first half of last year, the price of loose fiber saw a significant increase in the second half, driven by rising overseas demand for products like G657A2. As telecommunications and mobile operator centralized procurement approaches, coupled with increased industry stockpiling ahead of the Lunar New Year, prices are anticipated to continue rising. Benefiting from factors such as AI-driven demand growth within data centers and for Data Center Interconnect (DCI) scenarios, global fiber optic demand is climbing steadily. Currently, fiber optic cable exports have become a major growth driver for the industry. Leading domestic fiber optic cable manufacturers are expected to fully benefit from the significant upward price trend amid surging demand, with potential for continued upward revisions to profit flexibility. The main viewpoints are as follows:
The major fiber cycle confirms the industry's price increase trend. Following price pressure in the first half of last year, strong overseas demand for specifications like G657A2 in the second half led to shifts in production capacity. This resulted in reduced supply and longer delivery times for G652D fiber, with loose fiber prices rising consistently recently. With centralized procurement by telecom and mobile operators imminent and heightened pre-holiday inventory building, further price increases are forecast. Against this backdrop, major domestic clients are also likely to accept these price hikes, confirming the trend amidst market fluctuations.
Fiber optic cable exports have become a critical growth area for companies, with outstanding performance. AI-driven demand increases within data centers and for DCI scenarios are fueling continuous growth in global fiber optic demand. Export performance for fiber optic cable companies was strong in December 2025 and for the full year, making international expansion a key profit growth point for industry players currently.
Competition in computing power is driving a concentrated surge in fiber demand. The rigid requirements of AI computing centers for ultra-high bandwidth and low-latency transmission make them a core engine for fiber demand growth, fundamentally reshaping the industry's demand dynamics. Compared to traditional data centers, a single AI computing center can require several times, or even more than ten times, the amount of fiber. A typical ten-thousand-GPU cluster may require tens of thousands of fiber core kilometers just for internal server interconnectivity. The proportion of fiber demand attributable to AI-driven intra-data center and DCI scenarios is projected to surge from less than 5% in 2024 to 35% by 2027. Recently, Corning's $6 billion long-term supply agreement with Meta, which involves expanding US-based fiber and cable production capacity to support its AI data center construction, underscores the high demand within the fiber optic cable sector.
Demand for specialty and multimode fibers continues to grow, with rapid progress by companies domestically and internationally. Hollow-core fiber offers significant advantages for intra-data center applications due to its high performance. Fiber optic cable manufacturers worldwide are increasing investment in the R&D and application of hollow-core fiber. Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable achieved a record low loss of 0.05dB/km for hollow-core fiber and won operator procurement projects for it. Hengtong Optic-Electric launched high-performance hollow-core fiber products and plans to expand production of advanced optical fiber materials. Zhongtian Technology completed technical trials and published research findings on hollow-core fiber. Major players like Microsoft and AWS are actively deploying hollow-core fiber, anticipating large-scale adoption within data centers.
Regarding investment recommendations, leading domestic fiber optic cable manufacturers are well-positioned to benefit substantially from the significant price uptrend driven by exploding demand, with potential for ongoing positive adjustments to profit forecasts. Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable, Hengtong Optic-Electric, and Zhongtian Technology are highlighted.
Potential risks include technological updates and intensifying competition, fluctuations in raw material prices, and volatility in market demand.