The sharp fall in the stock market does not affect the demand for AI. BusinessLink Deng Jianhua: The supply of optical fiber will continue to exceed demand.

Deng Jianhua, general manager of Bizlian-KY, pointed out that despite the sharp decline in the stock market in the past few days, the AI ​​data center supply chain is still facing a shortage of components. (folder)

[Reporter Fang Weijie/Taipei Report] After the U.S. midterm elections, the market continues to pay attention to the market outlook for the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. Deng Jianhua, general manager of Bizlian-KY (3665), a major connection harness manufacturer, pointed out that despite the sharp decline in the stock market in the past few days, the AI data center supply chain is still facing a shortage of components. In addition to memory, the supply of optical fiber is also quite tight, and the shortage is expected to continue.

Deng Jianhua said that insufficient supply of optical fiber has become a common concern in the industry. Large optical fiber manufacturers in the United States, Europe, Japan and China are actively expanding production capacity to meet market demand. Some large AI companies have even directly invested in optical fiber manufacturers, and BizLink is also actively expanding its global manufacturing layout.

Deng Jianhua said that BizLink had entered the AI ​​supply chain as early as 2015 and 2016. At that time, AI-related power cables and other businesses accounted for only a single-digit percentage of the overall revenue, and now it has exceeded 30%. Before 2020, the group only had 2 factories in Southeast Asia, and now it has increased to 12. AI data centers and semiconductor production equipment related manufacturing are still mainly concentrated in Asia, including Taiwan, China and Southeast Asia.

As the AI ​​data center and semiconductor production equipment industries continue to develop, BizLink continues to vertically integrate the industry chain. In recent years, it has acquired Xinfusheng Optoelectronics, gaining the advantages of a stable supply of glass rods and self-made grinding equipment. Its operations will also continue to reflect the profits brought by Singapore's Interplex Datacom.

Regarding market concerns that North America, an important market for data center construction, will see more obvious resistance to AI infrastructure construction in some regions after the midterm elections, Deng Jianhua believes that with the rise in demand for sovereign data centers, more data centers will be dispersed to different countries and regions in the future, bringing development opportunities to Southeast Asia and other markets.

Deng Jianhua observed that customers in different industries have specific requirements for data usage and storage locations. In the future, in addition to ultra-large data centers, there may also be more small data centers that serve specific industries and meet regional data storage needs. BizLink has deployed factories in Europe and North America to be close to customers' actual deployment locations and reduce risks caused by logistics interruptions and geopolitical factors.