EZconn said global fiber and optical cable supplies remain tight as AI data center demand overtakes demand from traditional telecom applications, pushing up raw material prices and boosting costs for optical passive components. The company expects the shortage to ease gradually from the second half of 2026 into 2027 as upstream suppliers add capacity, while it negotiates for larger allocations and longer-term supply contracts.

The industry has converged on a single precondition for consumer adoption of augmented reality (AR) glasses: the product must look like ordinary eyewear. The China International Optoelectronic Exposition (CIOE) 2026 showed how differently the two critical component groups — microdisplays and waveguides — are responding to that constraint. Microdisplay makers are trading away a modest amount of resolution for smaller Micro LED panel areas, pushing light engines below 0.1cc, and pairing those engines with geometric, surface-relief, and volume-holographic waveguides from multiple suppliers to demonstrate complete near-eye modules and, in some cases, complete glasses. Taken together, the show indicates that AR display technology has reached a workable level of maturity.