Telecom & Infrastructure

AI infrastructure is rewriting telecom and data center demands, from 5G networks to hyperscale computing. Power electronics, photonics, memory and RF semiconductor technologies are converging to deliver the bandwidth, efficiency, and density this new era requires.

POWER: FROM 48V TO 800V, THE AI-DRIVEN POWER SHIFT

AI infrastructure is rewriting the rules of power delivery. As GPU racks push past 600 kW, an 800V DC bus and a new High Voltage Intermediate Bus Converter (HV IBC) stage are becoming essential to step voltage down efficiently.

Wide-bandgap devices are central to this shift: GaN is displacing silicon at key voltage and power levels within the IBC, while SiC addresses higher-power segments of the conversion chain. At Yole Group, analysts estimate the HV IBC market will reach $1.1 billion by 2031, with the industry now debating whether 48V, 12V, or even 6V will win the race to the Point of Load.

Roy DAGHER, PhD, Technology & Market Analyst, Compound Semiconductor, Yole Group – “AI infrastructure demand is not only driving memory prices to multi-year highs, it is fundamentally reshaping the industry’s dynamics.“

🎥Hot Takes, a Yole Group’s video series delivering quick expert insights inspired by what our analysts see, hear, and discuss with industry leaders worldwide…

Is AI reshaping power electronics faster than expected? One message stood out: the AI era is accelerating the transition toward 800V architectures and solid-state transformers (SSTs), redefining data center power distribution. In this new Hot Takes interview, independent journalist Junko Yoshida, Tech Probe, talks with Hassan Cheaito and Roy Dagher, power electronics experts at Yole Group: Watch the interview and discover the trends shaping the future of AI infrastructure!

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MEMORY & COMPUTING: THE MEMORY SUPERCYCLE, REWRITTEN

AI-driven demand has pushed DRAM and NAND prices to multi-year highs, with blended ASPs surging over 50% quarter-on-quarter in early 2026. But this cycle looks different: a wave of multi-year supply agreements and cross-industry equity investments is building a structural floor beneath the market, reshaping how the memory industry weathers its next downturn.

John Lorenz, Director, Memory & Computing activities, Yole Group – “The shift toward multi-year agreements is introducing floor-like behavior in the memory cycle, reducing the severity of future downturns.”

Related content, written by Yole Group’s memory analysts:

PHOTONICS: OPTICAL TRANSCEIVERS AT THE HEART OF AI SCALING

Optical connectivity has become a gating factor for AI infrastructure growth, with datacom optical component revenue exceeding $18 billion in 2025. As 800G gives way to 1.6T, the industry is racing to resolve laser supply bottlenecks, rethink the balance between DSPs and linear optics, and scale co-packaged optics for next-generation AI clusters.

Martin Vallo, PhD, Senior Technology & Market Analyst, Photonics, Yole Group – “The importance of CPO solutions lies in what they are trying to solve: the growing limitations of electrical I/O, the power burden of long electrical traces, and the density challenges of front-panel scaling.“

Related content: As AI infrastructure accelerates at an unprecedented pace, optical connectivity has become one of the defining enablers and constraints of next-generation data centers. In this Opinion Series, Yole Group explores how the optical transceiver ecosystem is evolving under the combined pressures of hyperscale AI demand, supply chain limitations, and shifting technology roadmaps… Opinion Series: Optical transceivers at the chokepoint of AI growth and supply chain constraints.

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EVERY FIBER OF THE NETWORK, DECODED

At Yole Group, we track two core market segments: telecommunications (long-distance communication over optical, wire or radio channels) and data communications (digital interconnection within data centers, primarily via fiber optics).

This segmentation anchors our view of the entire value chain, service operators, equipment suppliers, module makers, and component and material designers across both worlds.

Our analysts follow power electronics, photonics, RF, memory & computing technologies and more from the wafer level all the way to packaged modules and sub-systems, monitoring how global IP traffic growth impacts everything from long-haul networks to the “last mile”.

FINDING THE SWEET SPOT...

At Yole Group we identify and analyze where semiconductor technologies and related manufacturing processes are headed together.

Our coverage spans antenna systems and radio heads, RF chains, servers with CPU, GPU, ASIC…, storage including NAND, DRAM, optical transceivers (VCSEL and EEL-based), silicon photonics platforms, and InP/GaAs wafers, giving you a full picture of storage and processing implications across telecom and infrastructure.

This extends deep into consumer devices too: Yole Group’s smartphone RF expertise dissects real handsets to reveal OEM technical choices, costs, and market shares, from Wi-Fi standards and MIMO order to 5G mmWave, cellular RF front-end, and geolocation.

Discover our collection of Telecom & Infrastructure products here.