Research on the Optical Communication Industry in 2020: Are There Many New Blue Oceans Under Data Traffic?

Optical communication is a communication engineering term that refers to a communication method that uses light waves as carriers. Compared to traditional electrical communication, optical communication has advantages such as huge transmission bandwidth, extremely low transmission loss, lower cost, and high fidelity.

Optical communication can be divided into laser communication and non laser communication based on the characteristics of the light source; According to the transmission medium, it can be divided into atmospheric laser communication and fiber optic communication; According to the transmission band, it can be divided into visible light communication, infrared light communication, and ultraviolet light communication.

1、 Market size of optical communication industry

In recent years, China's optical communication industry has shown a high-speed growth trend. According to data, the market size of China's optical communication industry increased from 91.3 billion yuan in 2016 to 126.6 billion yuan in 2021.

Data source: In depth analysis of the current situation and development prospects of China's optical communication industry research report (2022-2029)

With the continuous development of China's optical communication industry, the scale of enterprises in the optical communication industry has also been expanding, and the number of registered enterprises has been increasing year by year. According to relevant data, the number of registered enterprises in China's optical communication industry in 2021 was 82300, a year-on-year increase of 124.6%.

Data source: In depth analysis of the current situation and development prospects of China's optical communication industry research report (2022-2029)

At present, China's optical communication industry is showing a high-speed growth trend mainly due to the following reasons:

Firstly, optical communication systems are information infrastructure. In recent years, governments at all levels in China have attached great importance to the development of the optical communication industry and introduced multiple favorable policies. For example, the "14th Five Year Plan for the Development of Digital Economy", the "14th Five Year Plan for National Informatization", the "Action Plan for the Development of Basic Electronic Components Industry (2021-2023)", the "Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Digital Homes and Improving Residential Quality", the "Action Plan for the Coordinated Development of Dual Gigabit Networks (2021-2023)", and the "Notice of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Promoting the Accelerated Development of 5G". These policies provide clear and broad market prospects for the development of the optical communication industry, and offer a favorable production and operation environment for enterprises.

Secondly, the construction coverage and widespread application of new information infrastructure such as 5G and gigabit optical networks have accelerated comprehensively, driving the development of China's optical communication industry. For example, in recent years, the construction process of 5G has been continuously advancing. According to the latest data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as of the end of May 2022, China has built and opened 1.7 million 5G base stations, with an average of over 12 5G base stations per 10000 people.

Data source: In depth analysis of the current situation and development prospects of China's optical communication industry research report (2022-2029)
At present, the domestic 5G network has covered all prefecture level cities, county towns, urban areas, and 92% of townships and towns in China, with 5G traffic accounting for 27.2% of mobile traffic. 5G applications cover 40 major categories of the national economy and have been widely used in over 200 smart mines, 1000 smart factories, 180 smart grids, 89 ports, and over 600 tertiary hospital projects across the country.

Third, mobile Internet traffic continues to grow rapidly, laying a solid foundation for the development of China's optical communication industry. Data shows that in 2021, China's mobile Internet access traffic will reach 221.6 billion GB, an increase of 33.9% over the previous year, and the monthly average mobile Internet access traffic (DOU) will reach 13.36GB/household per month, including 14.72GB/household in December, a record high. In 2021, China's telecommunications business accumulated 1.47 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8%, achieving a relatively high growth level since 2014, with a growth rate 4.1 percentage points higher than the previous year.

Data source: In depth analysis of the current situation and development prospects of China's optical communication industry research report (2022-2029)

Fourthly, the number of optical communication related patents has also been continuously increasing, which has driven the continuous development of the industry. According to data, the number of optical communication related patents in China in 2020 was 2198. The number of patent applications related to optical communication in China in 2021 was 1775.

Data source: In depth analysis of the current situation and development prospects of China's optical communication industry research report (2022-2029)

The rapid development of downstream markets is driving the growth of China's optical communication industry. At present, data centers are one of the important application areas of optical communication. In recent years, driven by national policies such as new infrastructure, digital transformation, and the vision of a digital China, as well as the demand for cost reduction and efficiency improvement from enterprises, China's data center business revenue has continued to grow rapidly. According to data, in 2021, the market revenue of China's data center industry reached 150.02 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 28.5%. It is expected that with the deepening of digital transformation in various regions and industries in China, the revenue of the data center market will continue to grow, and it will also continue to promote the development of China's optical communication industry.

Data source: In depth analysis of the current situation and development prospects of China's optical communication industry research report (2022-2029)

2、 Segmented market of optical communication

At present, China's optical communication industry mainly consists of fiber optic cables, network operation services, optical network equipment, optical chips, etc. The market share of fiber optic cables is the largest, accounting for 37%; Next are network operation services and optical network equipment, accounting for 29% and 26% respectively.

Data source: In depth analysis of the current situation and development prospects of China's optical communication industry research report (2022-2029)

1. Fiber optic cable

Fiber optic cables consist of two or more glass or plastic fiber cores, which are located within a protective coating and covered by a plastic PVC outer sleeve. Fiber optic communication is one of the important ways of modern information transmission, with advantages such as large capacity, long relay distance, good confidentiality, no electromagnetic interference, and copper material savings.

After experiencing an overall downward trend from 2017 to 2019, since 2020, with the deployment of 5G and gigabit optical networks, there has been an increase in demand and a rebound in prices, leading to a recovery in production growth. Data shows that China's fiber optic cable production in 2021 was 321.816 million core kilometers, a year-on-year increase of 11.4%. From January to April 2022, China's fiber optic cable production reached 102.967 million core kilometers, a year-on-year increase of 8.2%.

Data source: In depth analysis of the current situation and development prospects of China's optical communication industry research report (2022-2029)
In 2021, the length of optical cable lines in China was 216.317 million kilometers, a year-on-year increase of 9%; The length of newly added production capacity is 3.19 million kilometers. The length of long-distance optical cables is 4656579 kilometers, a year-on-year increase of 5.6%.

2. Optoelectronic components

Optoelectronic devices are various functional devices made using the electric photon conversion effect, which are key and core components. They are the forefront research field of modern optoelectronic and microelectronics technology and an important component. In recent years, with the continuous heating of the market, investment in the optical device industry has been expanding, and a large number of optical device enterprises have emerged in China. The state has increased support for the optical communication industry, and the proportion of enterprise investment in research and development has increased. At the same time, under the premise of the integration of the three networks, the proportion of investment costs in optical devices continues to rise.

The production of optoelectronic devices in China showed a fluctuating trend from 2017 to 2021. Specifically, the production of optoelectronic devices in China steadily increased from 2017 to 2018, but decreased by over 10% from 2019 to 2020. The production of optoelectronic devices has resumed growth in 2021. From January to April 2022, China's production of optoelectronic devices reached 356.06 billion units, a year-on-year decrease of 5.4%.

Data source: In depth analysis of the current situation and development prospects of China's optical communication industry research report (2022-2029)
 

3. Optical chip

Optical chips are the fundamental components for achieving optoelectronic signal conversion, and their performance directly determines the transmission efficiency of optical communication systems. Optical chips are the most important material for optical communication. In recent years, with strong support from national policies, the localization process of optical chips in China has steadily advanced, and the market size has gradually expanded. Data shows that the size of China's optical chip market was 460 million US dollars in 2019, a year-on-year increase of 9.5%. Preliminary estimates suggest that in 2021, the size of China's optical chip market will be 630 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 26.5%.

Data source: In depth analysis of the current situation and development prospects of China's optical communication industry research report (2022-2029)

At the same time, with the increasing demand for high-speed transmission, the market for 25G and above high-speed optical chips is growing rapidly. Data shows that from 2019 to 2021, the overall market space for optical chips used in 25G and above rate optical modules worldwide has grown from 1.356 billion US dollars to 1.913 billion US dollars, with an average annual compound growth rate of 18.8%.

Data source: In depth analysis of the current situation and development prospects of China's optical communication industry research report (2022-2029)
The "In depth Analysis and Development Prospects Research Report on the Current Situation of China's Optical Communication Industry (2022-2029)" published by Guanyan Report Network covers the latest industry data, market hotspots, policy planning, competitive intelligence, market outlook forecasts, investment strategies, and other content. Further supplemented by a large number of intuitive charts, it helps companies in this industry accurately grasp the development trend of the industry, market opportunities, and correctly formulate their competitive and investment strategies. This report is based on authoritative data released by channels such as the National Bureau of Statistics, the General Administration of Customs, and the National Information Center. It combines the industry environment and conducts market research and analysis from multiple perspectives, including theory, practice, macro, and micro.

Industry reports are an important decision-making basis for industry enterprises, related investment companies, and government departments to accurately grasp industry development trends, understand industry competition patterns, avoid operational and investment risks, and formulate correct competitive and investment strategic decisions. This report is an essential tool for comprehensively understanding the industry and investing in it. Guanyan Tianxia is a well-known industry information consulting agency in China, with a team of senior experts. Over the years, it has provided professional industry analysis reports to tens of thousands of enterprises, consulting agencies, financial institutions, industry associations, individual investors, etc. Its clients include leading domestic and foreign companies such as Huawei, China Petroleum, China Telecom, China Construction Engineering, HP, Disney, etc., and have been widely recognized by clients.

The data in this research report mainly adopts databases such as national statistical data, General Administration of Customs, questionnaire survey data, and data collected by the Ministry of Commerce. The macroeconomic data mainly comes from the National Bureau of Statistics, some industry statistics mainly come from the National Bureau of Statistics and market research data, enterprise data mainly comes from the National Bureau of Statistics' database of large-scale enterprises and stock exchanges, and price data mainly comes from various market monitoring databases. The industry analysis methods used in this research report include Porter's Five Forces model analysis, SWOT analysis, and PEST analysis, which comprehensively analyze the internal and external environment of the industry. At the same time, senior analysts analyze the current trend of the national economic situation, market development trends, and current industry hotspots to predict the future development direction, emerging hotspots, market space, technological trends, and future development strategies of the industry.