The widespread deployment of 100G connections in data centers and across networks is driving demand for 400G solutions and funding the development of 400G components. Those vendors that have successfully developed competitive 100G optical modules and components are simultaneously growing 100G volume, developing lower-cost 100G solutions and introducing 25G, 50G, 200G, 400G and 600G products.
The first solutions for 100G Ethernet were introduced in 2010. From then 100G shipments grew slowly, held back by expensive optical modules and limited demand. The introduction of QSFP28 modules through 2016 has dramatically reduced the cost of 100G ports and the shift to cloud services has driven massive demand from hyperscale data center operators.