Pluggable Optics: 30% CAGR to 2030

Research evidence excerpt

Pluggable Optics: 30% CAGR to 2030

Equity Research - 22 June 2026 14:24 CEST

Telecom Equipment

• Pluggable coherent optics market to grow at 30% CAGR to 2030

• Strong momentum, and high near-term visibility

• Positive for NOKIA (BUY) and Smartoptics (BUY)

Pluggables have a bright future

CignalAI is one of the most reputable industry analyst firms specialising in network infrastructure equipment. The firm last week

published updated forecasts on the WDM Pluggable Coherent Optics market (which is an important part in the overall Optics

markets), and this is, unsurprisingly, expected to report strong growth ahead. According to the report, the market for Pluggable

Optics was worth USD 2bn in 2025 and is forecast to grow at a whopping 30% CAGR to USD 7.5bn by 2030. The 800ZR+ is

the near-term catalyst, growing from ~USD 100m in 2025 to ~USD 1bn in 2026. By 2030, 1600ZRx is expected to be the largest

module category by itself.

Cloud/Hyperscalers at 85% of demand; 24% CAGR ahead

Cloud/Hyperscalers (Cloud & Colo) today make up ~85% of pluggable optics demand, and is expected to grow at a 24% CAGR

to USD 5bn by 2030 driven by AI-driven scale-across deployments of 800ZRx. Telco's and Enterprise customer customers are

however expected to grow faster than cloud/hyperscalers as low-cost pluggable transponders expand the addressable market

beyond optical specialists. As a result, Telcos and Enterprise are expected to grow at >50% CAGR and account for ~1/3 of the

market by 2030.

Nokia's Optical momentum remains strong

Nokia entered the WDM pluggable market later than some of its peers, with meaningful ramp beginning in Q3'25 (compared

with the historical focus on embedded coherent solutions). The Infinera acquisition (consolidated Mar'25) provided the digital