Conquering the Computing Era: Global Optical Module and PCB Industry Explosion (Including Key Player Strategies)

When Amazon’s $100 miliard 2025 capex collides with OpenAI’s “Stargate,” an AI-driven hardware revolution is reshaping the electronics supply chain—where optical modules and PCB -uri serve as the core engines.

Global Computing Arms Race: Capital Expenditure Landscape

Overseas Giants: $100B+ Capex Surge

• Amazon: $75B capex in 2024, projected >$100B in 2025 (cloud-driven)

• Google: $17.2B Q1 2025 capex (+44% YoY), $75B full-year plan

• Microsoft: $16.7B Q1 2025 (+53% YoY), accelerating AI cloud investments

• Meta: Capex raised to $60-65B (LLM R&D. + custom hardware)

Key Stat: Top 4 CSPs’ 2025 total capex exceeds $300B, growing >35% YoY.

Emerging Players: Aggressive New Entrants

• OpenAI: “Stargate” supercomputer project (>$100B estimated cost)

• Tesla/Apple: Surging hardware investments for in-house AI chips

• Industry Shift: Top 4 CSPs’ capex share drops from 59% (2023) la <50% (2025)

“As OpenAI builds supercomputers and Tesla develops Dojo chips, traditional data center boundaries are collapsing.”

AI Chip Wars: GPU vs. ASIC Battle

GPU: Foundation of Computing Empire

• Dominance: Handles >90% of AI model training

• Performance Metric:
  Compute Density (TFLOPS/mm²) = Transistor Count × Frequency × Core Efficiency

• NVIDIA’s Lead: H100 bandwidth 3TB/s, NVLink speed 900GB/s

ASIC: Custom Chip Revolution

• Power Efficiency: 40-60% lower power vs. GPU at same compute

• ROI Formula:
  ROI (months) = (Power Savings × Scale) / (R&D Cost ÷ Lifespan)

• Growth Projection: Marvell forecasts 2028 AI ASIC market >$40B (47% CAGR)

Architectural Revolution: Hyper-Node Clusters

• HWJ 384-Node Cluster:
  Theoretical Compute = Single-Chip Power × 384 × Interconnect Efficiency (≈1.7×NVL72)

• GB200 Limitation: Copper interconnect max 72 cards, optical breaks topology barriers

PCB/Optical Modules: Core Beneficiaries of Compute Boom

AI Server PCB: Layer Revolution & Material Innovation

Breakthroughs:

• Heavy Copper: 3oz foil handles >1000O current

• Hybrid Materials: MegaTron™ 8 Df ≤0.0015 (@112GHz)

Optical Modules: CPO vs. LPO Tech Divide

• Demand Surge: >5,000 modules per ASIC cluster

• Technology Paths:

  • LPO (Linear Drive): Power ↓50%, latency <2ns

  • CPO (Co-Packaged Optics): Density ↑5×, cost ↓30%

• Market Sizing:
  Optical Market = AI Chip Volume × Interconnect Ratio × Penetration Rate

Key Forecast: 1.6T module adoption to reach 25% by 2025 (LightCounting)

China’s Ascent: Localization Breakthroughs

Policy-Driven Computing Infrastructure

• National Hubs: 70+ data centers under construction, 600K+ new racks

• Compute Target: 1,037.3 EFLOPS by 2025 (43% YoY growth)

Hardware Localization: PCB/Optical Progress

Tariff Impact: High-end PCB relocation costs >30%, strengthening local supply chains

Investment Focus: Leaders Analysis

PCB Manufacturers’ Positioning

• UCP : Core NVIDIA HGX substrate supplier, yield >95%

• SY Tech: M7-grade materials NVIDIA-certified, share surging

• Deepkin: 3D. substrate capacity ↑300%

Optical Module Vendor Landscape

Equipment & Material Champions

• Nikon Precision: Direct imaging lithography ≤2μm

• Fang Bang: Ultra-thin shielding film ≤5μm

• Wazam New Materials: Low Dk/Df equal to Megatron 8

2025-2028 Technology Roadmap

1. PCB Layer Scaling:
   Avg AI Server Layers = 12 + 0.5×(Annual Compute Growth) → 24L by 2028

2. Optical Integration:

   • CPO adoption >15% by 2025

   • On-Board Optics (OBO) production by 2027

3. Thermal Innovations:

   • Liquid-cooled PCB thermal resistance <0.1°C/W

   • Phase-change materials conductivity >20W/mK

Industry Insight: “When compute demand doubles quarterly, only by etching light paths on PCBs and building 3D silicon cities can we ride the AI tsunami.”