National Bureau of Statistics: Optical Cable Output Down 15.5% Year-on-Year in April

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that optical cable output in China fell 15.5% year-on-year in April 2026. Cumulative output for the year through the end of April declined 7.3% compared to the same period last year.

Industry insiders believe the decline is not due to shrinking demand, but rather a fundamental shift in demand structure. Emerging applications such as AI data centers and drone optical fibers have become core growth drivers, while the share of traditional telecommunications demand continues to decrease. In effect, demand for optical fiber and cable is shifting from general-purpose products to high-end specialty fibers.

According to CRU data, China’s optical cable consumption remained flat year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, with weak demand in the telecommunications sector offset by strong demand from data centers. A research report released by China Securities Co., Ltd. also noted that operators' procurement share in the domestic optical fiber and cable market has significantly decreased compared to the past.

According to a report published by China International Capital Corporation (CICC) in December 2025, the share of AI-related optical fiber and cable demand in global total demand will rise from less than 5% in 2024 to 35% by 2027, and will be the main source of incremental demand over that period. The global optical fiber and cable market is increasingly showing a new pattern driven by both the telecommunications market and the data center market.

It is worth noting that Huatai Securities previously wrote in a research report that to meet data center demand for bend-insensitive fibers such as G.657.A2, manufacturers have adjusted production capacity allocations for G.652.D. The drawing efficiency of G.657.A2 is 10%–15% lower than that of G.652.D, requiring more capacity for the same length. In another report, Huatai Securities stated that the world's leading optical fiber preform manufacturers are generally operating at high capacity utilization rates. The capacity expansion cycle for optical preforms is 18–24 months, and after the industry's earlier experience with price wars, companies are more cautious in making expansion decisions. These factors have all had some impact on overall optical fiber and cable output.

Currently, the construction of AI computing infrastructure continues to accelerate. The five major North American cloud giants — Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle — are expected to have capital expenditures of approximately $800 billion in 2026, nearly double the 2025 level and triple the 2024 level, with the figure projected to exceed $1.1 trillion by 2027. Domestically, Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance have all announced further increases in AI capital expenditures. The optical fiber and cable industry will continue to benefit from these trends.