Hardware & Networking C1Q26 Optical Market Update: Datacom Market Outlook Revised Higher; Positive for COHR, FN, and LITE

Research evidence excerpt

Hardware & Networking C1Q26 Optical Market Update: Datacom Market Outlook Revised Higher; Positive for COHR, FN, and LITE

J P M O R G A N North America Equity Research

15 May 2026

Hardware & Networking

C1Q26 Optical Market Update: Datacom Market

Outlook Revised Higher; Positive for COHR, FN, and

LITE

Industry analysts LightCounting have revised higher their optical forecast for the IT Hardware/ Telecom & Networking

datacom market, which should largely be a positive for optical component Equipment

suppliers in our coverage, including Coherent, Fabrinet and Lumentum; although, Samik Chatterjee, CFA AC

despite the raises, third-party analysts continue to highlight their conservatism in (1-212) 622-0798

the forecasts, particularly starting in 2027, with limited capital spending visibility samik.x.chatterjee@jpmorgan.com

in their view from NeoClouds to support the growth trends in capex towards AI Joseph Cardoso

Infrastructure. Key highlights from the latest forecast include: (1-212) 622-9036

joseph.cardoso@jpmchase.com

Manmohanpreet SinghGrowth Outlook Revised Higher For Datacom

(1-212) 622-4527

The datacom growth outlook remains robust, with the total market forecast once manmohanpreet.singh@jpmchase.com

again revised upward and now expected to expand at nearly a +35% CAGR Marc Vitenzon

through 2028, led primarily by 1.6T and, to a slightly lesser extent, 800G data rates. (1-212) 622-3342

Additionally, the recent upward revisions to the outlook were also driven more by marc.vitenzon@jpmchase.com

1.6T, closely followed by revisions across 800G outlook. Importantly, attach rates Akanksh Chauhan

of datacom solutions to XPUs continue to rise, with potential upside to both attach (1-212) 622-0045