Tech news in 3 minutes
Sivers investing $30m to boost Glasgow InP CW DFB laser manufacturing capacity to over 100 million annually
Sivers Semiconductors invests $30m to expand its Glasgow indium phosphide (InP) continuous wave distributed feedback (CW DFB) laser manufacturing capacity to over 100 million units annually, targeting surging AI data-center and optical networking demand. The Swedish supplier of RF beam-former ICs and lasers for AI, SATCOM, defense, and telecom applications announced the strategic investment on 3 September 2026. The expansion of its Glasgow, Scotland facility will add new process capabilities, increased automation, and greater manufacturing flexibility. The program begins in second-half 2026 and is expected to become operational in fourth-quarter 2027. This marks Sivers’ transition from a fab-lite model to a hybrid manufacturing strategy, combining in-house capabilities with foundry, packaging, and manufacturing partners in Asia. “The scale of today’s AI infrastructure build-out is creating unprecedented demand across the optical supply chain,” said president & CEO Vickram Vathulya. “Our customers need significantly more laser production capacity and the confidence that supply will be there when their programs ramp.” Chief operating officer Neeraj Chopra added that scaling photonics for AI requires a flexible, quality-focused manufacturing strategy. The investment reflects growing customer engagement as hyperscale operators build larger AI clusters and adopt higher-speed networking architectures, driving demand for InP-based lasers and semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs). Sivers’ hybrid approach aims to provide production scalability, geographic flexibility, and supply chain resilience while maintaining core in-house photonics manufacturing.