Ethernet cables: A billion-dollar market, but growth will be hampered

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Allied Market Research forecasts that by 2022, companies will spend more than $1 billion annually on copper and fiber optic cables that transmit data and power.

The figure includes spending on fiber-optic and copper cables used to connect local area networks and data center nodes.

Even as wireless networks move toward higher bandwidths and computing tasks once handled only by desktop computers are now handled by mobile devices, the cost of fiber optic and copper cables continues to increase.

Why are wired Ethernet cable spending increasing at a rate of 14.3%? The alliance said that the increase in the number of IoT connections, the development of data centers, and the emergence of Power over Ethernet (PoE) systems, together, mean that companies will spend more on cables.

The growth in consumption mainly comes from China, where the rapid expansion of the technology industry and investment in data centers will drive demand for optical network cables. The entire Asia-Pacific market is expected to account for 35% of global cable spending.

Europe is also seen as a big market, especially in the industrial sector, where the growth of electrical connections means larger networks and demand for cables. In traditional network environments such as offices, the emergence of PoE technology will also help drive healthy development of network cable demand.

As a result, Allied Analysts predicts that spending will rise over the next six years and will exceed $22 billion in 2020. However, Allied also points out that the traditional limitations of wired networks, such as the expense and limitations of installing cables, will continue to hinder the development of this market.