Who makes optical transceivers for AI data centers
Optical transceivers (400G / 800G / 1.6T)
Pluggable optical modules that convert electrical signals to light for transmission over fiber between switches and servers, sold at 400G, 800G, and 1.6T speeds.
Optical transceivers plug into the switch systems (3.03) and NICs to link them over the fiber and connectors in 3.11, carrying the scale-out traffic that copper cabling (3.09) can't reach as far or as fast. Inside each module sit the lasers (3.06), DSPs and drivers (3.07), and — as speeds rise — silicon photonics (3.08) that do the actual signal conversion; module vendors largely assemble and test these components rather than build them all in-house, which is why optics contract manufacturing (3.05) is its own layer. AI clusters consume far more optical ports per GPU than general-purpose data centers because of the scale-out bandwidth growth described in 3.02, and the industry's steady move from 400G to 800G to 1.6T tracks rising per-GPU network bandwidth requirements directly. An investor should watch module vendor concentration by speed grade, since a small number of merchant module makers plus a GPU vendor's own branded modules account for most volume at the newest speeds, and watch qualification cycles as each new speed grade requires re-qualifying lasers, DSPs, and photonics together.
AI delta: AI clusters need far more optical ports per GPU than general-purpose data centers, and the push to higher per-GPU bandwidth accelerates the transition from 400G to 800G to 1.6T modules.
Companies on this part (15)
| Company | Role | Ownership | Ticker | Price | 1d | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accelink | manufacturer | public | 002281.SZ | 129 CNY | +0.8% | disclosed | · source |
| Applied Optoelectronics | manufacturer | public | AAOI | 67.51 USD | +0.8% | disclosed | · source |
| Broadcom | manufacturer | public | AVGO | 322 USD | -0.3% | inferred | |
| Cisco | manufacturer | public | CSCO | 107 USD | +1.4% | inferred | |
| Coherent | manufacturer | public | COHR | 209 USD | +2.3% | disclosed | · source |
| Eoptolink | manufacturer | public | 300502.SZ | 261 CNY | +1.1% | disclosed | · source |
| HG Genuine | manufacturer | public | 000988.SZ | 74.58 CNY | +2.6% | inferred | |
| Innolight | manufacturer | public | 300308.SZ | 613 CNY | +3.5% | disclosed | · source |
| Jabil | manufacturer | public | JBL | 274 USD | +2.7% | inferred | ex-Intel silicon photonics unit |
| Lumentum | manufacturer | public | LITE | 756 USD | +2.0% | disclosed | · source |
| Nvidia | manufacturer | public | NVDA | 211 USD | -0.7% | disclosed | sells own-branded modules · source |
| TFC | manufacturer | public | 300394.SZ | 201 CNY | +1.7% | inferred | optical engines |
| Hisense Broadband | manufacturer | private | inferred | ||||
| Molex | manufacturer | private | inferred | Koch | |||
| Source Photonics | manufacturer | private | inferred |
Who competes here
The same table read the other way: every company above competes for optical transceivers sockets. Confidence tags matter — an inferred placement is a lead, not a confirmed rivalry.
Seen in real machines
optical transceivers is named in 1 of the rack teardowns and supercomputer breakdowns on this site. Each line below is a piece of that machine. The companies shown are the ones named on that line, not necessarily the maker of this part.
- Nvidia GB300 NVL72 · rack teardown
Nearby parts
- Previous in layer: Switch systems & white-box ODMs
- Next in layer: Optics contract manufacturing
- Layer: Layer 3 — Networking & interconnect
From the blog
- Part of the day: Optical transceivers 2026-09-07
Watch
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- Micro LED optical interconnect targets AI racks amid unsettled standards — DigiTimes, 2026-10-20The growing demand for optical interconnects in AI racks is driving the potential use of Micro LED technology for short-reach optical transmission within data centers.
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- Optical switching startup Salience Labs raises $125m with AMD and Intel participating in round — Data Center Dynamics, 2026-10-16Salience Labs secured $125 million in a Series B funding round with participation from AMD and Intel to advance optical circuit switching technology.
- Gemtek partners with Starman to make optical transceivers in US — DigiTimes, 2026-10-16Gemtek has partnered with Starman to manufacture optical transceivers within the United States.
- South Korea's September ICT Exports Surge Past US$75B on AI Demand — DigiTimes, 2026-10-16South Korea's ICT exports reached over US$75 billion in September 2026, heavily supported by semiconductor exports that surpassed $60 billion due to global AI infrastructure spending.
- FICG eyes 4x optical communications capacity by 2027 — DigiTimes, 2026-10-16FICG plans to expand its optical communications production in Malaysia and China to meet anticipated AI demand, projecting a fourfold increase in capacity by 2027.
- Huawei Proposes Next-Gen OTN for AIDC-Centric All-Optical Network — HPCwire, 2026-10-15Huawei introduced a next-generation Optical Transport Network (OTN) designed specifically for AI/DC-centric all-optical networking applications.
- FIC Group opens Malaysia plant as optical module capacity targets 18 SMT lines — DigiTimes, 2026-10-15FIC Group opened a new manufacturing facility in Malaysia to increase production capacity for 800G to 6.4T optical communication modules.
Questions about optical transceivers
- What are optical transceivers?
- Pluggable optical modules that convert electrical signals to light for transmission over fiber between switches and servers, sold at 400G, 800G, and 1.6T speeds.
- Which companies make optical transceivers for AI data centers?
- This catalog lists 15 companies on Optical transceivers, 12 of them with listed equity: Accelink, Applied Optoelectronics, Broadcom, Cisco, Coherent, Eoptolink, HG Genuine, Innolight, Jabil, Lumentum, and 5 more.
- How does AI change demand for optical transceivers?
- AI clusters need far more optical ports per GPU than general-purpose data centers, and the push to higher per-GPU bandwidth accelerates the transition from 400G to 800G to 1.6T modules.
- How reliable are these optical transceivers supplier placements?
- The 15 placements on this part break down as 7 disclosed, 8 inferred. "disclosed" means the company or a filing says so; "reported" comes from trade press or a reference-design list; "inferred" is a taxonomy lead with no citation yet.
Sources: placements without a source URL come from the taxonomy seed and are tagged accordingly. How this data is built.· Markdown · JSON