CPO Doesn't Kill Optics, It Moves the Rent: Optical Coupling Is the Real Throughput Bottleneck
demian_ai · x · 2026-09-12
Drawing on YOLE's CIOE map, the author maps CPO's value migration: a >$110B market by 2031, 94% from scale-up. Winners: packaging/foundry (TSMC, ASE-class), switch/system OEMs, remote light sources (LITE, COHR), coupling & assembly gear. Losers: pluggable DSPs/retimers, module assemblers, low-end OSATs. The overlooked alpha: optical coupling is the throughput bottleneck — every optical engine needs precise fiber array alignment, making coupling/FAU the critical station.
Related event: CPO redistributes value rather than killing optical modules(2 posts)→
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