Fiber optic cables are currently widely used in the current network era. Long-distance backbone transmission, fiber to the home, and future 5G applications will promote the development of fiber optic cables in the next 10 years.

According to relevant reports, the demand for optical fiber in all regions of the world increased by double digits from 2000 to 2015. Among them, the output and demand of China's optical fiber and cable have been in the forefront of the world in recent years. In 2015, global fiber optic cable production was 384 million core kilometers, and China accounted for more than half of the world. In 2016, global fiber optic cable demand reached 425 million core kilometers, China accounted for 57%, and will continue growth of. The main reason is the increase in the demand for optical fiber brought by broadband upgrades.

In 2016, the global optical fiber and cable market growth rate was around 11%. As the world's largest optical fiber and cable market, China played an important role in it. Its growth rate exceeded that of all other regions in the world, with a growth rate of 57%. The demand growth of the three major operators has also reached more than 50%.

According to observation, the current demand for fiber-optic cables is mainly driven by fiber-to-the-home construction, but there is a time node for fiber-to-the-home construction. At present, fiber-to-the-home construction in some countries has become saturated, and the demand for fiber optics has begun to decline. Although this situation will not happen in China in the next few years, with the completion of optical reforms in major cities in China, the slowdown in the growth of demand for fiber optic cables will be inevitable, which may have a negative impact on the future development of the fiber optic cable industry.

On the other hand, although the submarine cable market is relatively small, CRU expects that the submarine cable will usher in a relatively strong growth momentum, and the submarine cable has a high added value, it can be predicted that the demand for submarine cable will enter a period of rapid growth.

It is reported that the demand for submarine cables reached a new peak in 2016. At present, there are three more important submarine cable projects under construction in the world, including the construction project of the Arctic submarine optical fiber network. The project has an installed capacity of 15,000 kilometers. It is the world's largest submarine cable network and will be connected to Canada and Alaska after the completion Asia and Western Europe. CRU currently monitors 30 projects under construction, each of which has a length of more than 1,000 kilometers. Some network giants such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook are investing in the construction of submarine cables, so submarine cables will continue to grow at a high rate.