Two Setups in a Quiet Week: China Elevates Optical Modules to National Strategy, and Taiwan Revenue Splits AI Optical Communications from Smartphone Optics (W28)
This was a quiet week with no earnings calls and monthly revenue reports leading the way. The hard data centered on two things: China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released the "White Paper on the Development of the High-Speed Optical Module Industry" on 6/29, and Taiwanese companies began reporting June revenue.
These two seemingly peripheral events are actually setting up the second half: one is "optical modules officially elevated into national strategy," the other is "Taiwanese revenue fully splitting AI optical communications from smartphone optics."
There was no new progress this week on the big structural themes (CPO commercialization, the 1.6T ramp, NVIDIA's stakes in Lumentum/Coherent); attention is shifting early to the mid-July earnings calls from TSMC and ASML and to US CSP earnings season.
1. A Week Without Earnings Calls Brings Things into Sharper Focus
The first week of July was unusually quiet for optical communications: no major earnings calls, no M&A, no spec leaps, and not even any CPO news. But precisely because no big event dominated the headlines, two small items that would normally be drowned out surfaced: China's MIIT issued a white paper, and Taiwanese companies reported June revenue.
What they have in common: neither changes this quarter's numbers, but both change how this supply chain should be read in the second half. One is a policy signal, the other a cyclical signal.
2. China's MIIT White Paper: The First Official "Definition" of Optical Modules
On June 29, China's MIIT formally released the "White Paper on the Development of the High-Speed Optical Module Industry," the first time an official body has "set the tone" for 800G/1.6T high-speed optical modules, lifting optical modules from "a component industry" to "a strategic link in AI infrastructure." For context on the related upstream material bottlenecks, see also The InP / Light Source Shortage Map.
A white paper won't make anyone sell one more module next quarter. But the point of a white paper was never the numbers; it's the declaration of where resources will flow. Upstream EML, DSP and silicon photonics chips will now face a stronger push for domestic substitution.
3. Taiwan's June Revenue: Largan's Weakness Is Not an Alarm for Optical Communications
Largan (3008) reported June revenue of NT$3.712 billion, down 19.18% MoM and 10.46% YoY, its lowest since May 2025. But this is classic signal contamination: Largan's core business is smartphone lenses, so the weakness reflects the smartphone optics off-season and has nothing to do with AI data-center optical communications demand.
The control group is clear: LandMark Optoelectronics, EZconn, Browave and Luxnet maintained strong YoY growth in June, and 東典光電 (6588) set 2026 as the year to deepen high-speed optical communications at its shareholders' meeting. Both sides carry the "optics" label, but one is ramping while the other is bottoming out. We map out the full linkage between capex and upstream bottlenecks, segment by segment, in The CPO / Silicon Photonics Supply Chain Map.
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That's the summary of this article.
STT's full analysis is in the premium section: whether the white paper is really targeting modules or "the materials behind the modules that haven't been localized," whether this is a tailwind or a threat for Taiwanese vendors, why Largan's weakness won't drag down LandMark and FOCI, and the same bottleneck behind US$630 billion of capex and Innolight's ¥1,000 share price.
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