Co-packaged optics sales to hit $5.4 billion by 2027: CIR

April 7, 2022

CIR expects CPO-based designs to find initial use in hyperscale data centers; such applications will drive 80% of CPO revenues in 2023, according to the report.

Stephen Hardy

Revenues from co-packaged optics (CPO) deployments will reach $5.4 billion by 2027, according to Communications Industry Researchers (CIR). Use of the technology will start to ramp when switch chip speeds reach 102.4 Tbps, which CIR expects to happen in 2025, according to the market research firm’s new report, Markets for Co-Packaged Optics 2022-2030.

CIR expects CPO-based designs to find initial use in hyperscale data centers; such applications will drive 80% of CPO revenues in 2023, according to the report. CPO deployments will expand to other kinds of data centers, such as enterprise, telephone company, and edge, approximately a year later, CIR expects. The ability to reduce power consumption by 30% and cost/bit by 40% while supporting low-latency requirements will drive such deployments, the company’s analysts say. This latter characteristic will make CPO appealing for such applications as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) and augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).

The report also details the development and use of near-packaged optics (NPO), which will help address applications prior to the advent of 102.4T switch chips, CIR predicts. At the Optica Executive Forum last month before OFC 2022, a speaker from Facebook revealed his company planned to use NPO for its 51.2T chip requirements.

The Markets for Co-Packaged Optics 2022-2030 report, CIR’s second on the subject following the inaugural edition last year, forecasts CPO modules from 2022 to 2030 with breakouts by type of data center and location (inter-building/inter-machine or rack/server) in the data center. Forecasts are provided in terms of volume shipments and revenues. CIR says it based its forecasts on analysis of the user adoption patterns for high-speed interfaces in data centers. The report also addresses CPO's impact on the optoelectronic supply chain.

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About the Author

Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave

Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.

Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.

He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.

You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.