Nokia (NOKIA) Nokia Oyj Optical Fiber Communication Conference 2026 summary

Opening remarks and context

• Executive briefing at OFC 2026 highlighted the importance of time and efficient information sharing for attendees.

• Presenters included leaders from network infrastructure, optical networks, and marketing, with a Q&A session planned.

Key achievements and business growth

• Achieved 14% growth in optical business and 36% increase in AI/cloud business, driven by the Infinera acquisition and launch of 800G coherent pluggables.

• Expanded fabrication and packaging capabilities, securing #1 market share in optical networks outside China in Q4 2025.

• 2025 proforma revenue for Optical Networks reached €3.2bn, with leading positions in IP and Fixed Networks.

• Integration with Nokia led to a 14% increase in optical business and 36% growth in cloud and hyperscale segments, achieving top market share.

• Significant investments in R&D ($2B) and expanded fab capacity in San Jose and Allentown, supported by the CHIPS Act, are driving scale.

Industry trends and business performance

• Optical networking is positioned to address the massive gap between compute and network growth, with power efficiency as a key focus.

• Demand for optical components has surged, with volumes moving from tens of thousands to hundreds of millions of units annually.

• Global AI infrastructure spending projected to reach $2.5tn with a 44% CAGR over the next five years.

• AI-driven bandwidth growth expected at 23% CAGR for global WAN and 65% CAGR for intra-data center capacity.

• Fiber deployments forecasted at 1.2bn kilometers between 2026 and 2030.