10x, 20x! YOFC Predicts Surge in Demand for Polarization-Maintaining Fiber

Following Hengtong Optic-Electric and FiberHome Communications, YOFC, which has ranked first globally in market share for optical fiber preforms, optical fibers, and optical cables for many consecutive years, has also joined the ranks of capacity expansion.

At the special forum on "New Paradigm of AI Infrastructure Driven by Dual Wheels of Optical Computing and Optical Interconnection" held during the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference on July 18, Zhuang Dan, Executive Director and President of YOFC, stated that the market for polarization-maintaining fiber is currently very hot. He predicted that demand for polarization-maintaining fiber would see 10-fold to 20-fold growth in the next one to two years, and the company is working with partners across the industrial chain to expand production capacity for polarization-maintaining fiber.

Currently, demand for optical fibers and cables is shifting from being telecommunications-driven to AI-driven. Zhuang Dan noted that in the past, Datacom (data communications) may have accounted for less than 10% of global demand for optical fibers and cables. Based on current development trends, it is expected to account for more than 50% of total optical connection demand by 2030. "Moving from less than 10% to 50% is a very significant change."

It is understood that as the AI computing power industry iterates at high speed, CPO (Co-Packaged Optics) has become the core technology for optical interconnection in new-generation AI data centers, thanks to its core advantages of low latency, high bandwidth, and low power consumption. As one of the core basic materials for CPO systems, the precision of polarization-maintaining fiber directly affects system coupling efficiency and signal stability.

"With its excellent stability, polarization-maintaining fiber has become the optimal connection medium in the CPO silicon photonics era," Zhuang Dan introduced. YOFC is the only enterprise in China to have achieved formal mass production certification for polarization-maintaining fiber, and it has ranked first in the domestic market share of polarization-maintaining fiber for five consecutive years. With a global integrated industrial layout encompassing R&D, production, and services, the company fully meets the high-resilience supply demands of the AI era. The company has established 10 production bases in 7 countries overseas, and it is expected that more than 50% of its operating revenue in 2026 will come from overseas customers.

According to YOFC's announcement on July 15 regarding the pre-increase in performance for the first half of 2026, the company expects to achieve a net profit attributable to shareholders of approximately RMB 2.4 billion to RMB 3.0 billion in the first half of this year, representing a year-on-year increase of 711% to 914%. The company stated that during the reporting period, benefited by the accelerated construction of computing power data centers, demand for new types of optical fiber and cable products at home and abroad continued to grow, and the industry's supply-demand structure continuously improved. Leveraging its leading global industry position, the company seized opportunities in the international market, vigorously expanded business related to computing power data centers, achieved expansion of core customers, optimization of product structure, and enhancement of profitability, resulting in year-on-year growth in operating performance.

Benefiting from the industry's high prosperity and strong performance growth, YOFC has been one of the major bull stocks in the A-share market over the past year, with a maximum increase of more than 15 times during the period.

Since June this year, the optical fiber and cable industry has witnessed a wave of "optical preform capacity expansion." The continuous growth in demand for optical fiber and cable products has also driven a widening supply-demand gap for optical fiber preforms (hereinafter referred to as "optical preforms"), the "mother body" of fiber manufacturing, leading to a rapid rise in prices. According to forecasts by the UK-based Commodities Research Unit (CRU), the effective capacity utilization rate of optical preforms in China will reach 84.3% in 2026, with effective capacity nearing full load. Recently, several companies have disclosed plans for a new round of optical preform capacity expansion.

Previously, a reporter from Shanghai Securities News contacted YOFC as an individual investor to inquire whether there were plans for optical preform capacity expansion. The company responded that it had not disclosed information on optical preform capacity, and currently there were no expansion plans meeting the criteria for information disclosure. The company has experienced multiple industry cycles and has full confidence in its own development.

Source: Shanghai Securities News

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