SAN FRANCISCO – October 31, 2026 -- Cumulative data center Ethernet switch sales will surpass $250 billion over the next five years, according to Crehan Research's latest Data Center Switch Long-Range Forecast Report. The firm attributes the figure to a steep ramp of scale-up Ethernet deployments in AI rack systems, added to existing hypergrowth in scale-out and scale-across networks.

Crehan projects 15-fold growth in total market bandwidth within five years

Scale-up will have an even larger effect on bandwidth than on revenue, according to Crehan. The report projects a 15-fold increase in total market bandwidth over the same five-year period.

Scale-up Ethernet switching bandwidth alone is forecast to grow 200-fold. Seamus Crehan, president of Crehan Research, said bandwidth demand for scale-up Ethernet in AI racks is about an order of magnitude greater than for scale-out, and that the gap is likely to widen.

1.6T Ethernet switch ports are set to ramp from later this year

The report projects a rapid ramp in 1.6T Ethernet switch ports, starting later this year. Crehan said generative AI network build-outs have driven data center 800GbE switch ports through the fastest ramp in history. The latest forecast projects an even faster ramp for the 1.6T generation.