Recently, I have been paying attention to the supply chain opportunities for the next-generation AI chips. A leading technology company has recently launched its flagship AI chip Ironwood (performance close to NVIDIA B200 level), which is expected to be fully market-ready in the coming weeks. According to industry sources, a well-known AI startup plans to invest up to 1 million new chips to support its large model computations, which is indeed a significant scale.

Interestingly, the company's customized OCS networking solution is becoming a new direction for competitive benchmarking. Industry analysis data shows that this solution increases overall network throughput by 30%, while power consumption decreases by 40%, data flow latency is reduced by 10%, and network downtime is reduced by 50 times. From a cost perspective, capital expenditure can be reduced by 30%. Most importantly, this solution supports rolling upgrades of fiber optics and switches, avoiding complete rebuilds, and has a much longer usage cycle than traditional solutions.

In terms of shipment volume, it is expected to reach 12,000 units in 2025 and potentially surge to 300,000 units by 2030. This growth rate is indeed worth further consideration.

Regarding technical solutions, besides the MEMS micro-mirror scheme, several other technical routes are also being tested in parallel. The MEMS scheme itself has obvious advantages—port scale can reach hundreds by hundreds, insertion loss is low, and maturity is high, already running production traffic in ultra-large data centers. However, it also has disadvantages: the switching time driven by mechanical micro-mirrors is in the millisecond range, and high-end packaging and collimation processes are relatively complex.

The material cost of a single OCS switch is approximately $50,000. From a BOM perspective, the contribution distribution of several companies in the A-share industrial chain is as follows: DekeLi provides optical module value of $10,000–$20,000, with its 320×320 channel next-generation solution currently in sample delivery stage; Guangku Technology's module is valued at $30,000, serving as an OEM manufacturer, with Wuhan Jiepai as its subsidiary and the exclusive OEM for Google’s solution; Saiwei Electronics' MEMS vibrating mirror OEM value is $6,000, with each switch requiring 2 chips priced at $3,000 each; Tengjing Technology contributes about $5,000, including prisms, filters, and other components inside the switch ($1,000) and wavelength division multiplexing and ring optical components for custom optical modules ($4,000); Taichen Optoelectronics' FAU unit value is $1,000, supplied indirectly; Juguang Technology produces 2D micro-lens arrays, with 276 channels priced at about $1 each, totaling $276.

In 2026, during this steepest growth phase, every link in the supply chain is gearing up.