古河電工が次なる主役に、AI投資の焦点がデータセンター内部へ

The Japanese stock market's AI-related rally is entering a new phase as semiconductor and data center construction themes mature. Early investor enthusiasm centered on companies like NVIDIA and Fujikura, which serve the foundational infrastructure—chips and the external networks connecting facilities. However, as the body of AI infrastructure becomes operational, the market's attention is shifting to a constraint that was previously secondary: the internal communication architecture within each data center.

This shift is driven by a concrete technical reality the body outlines: GPUs generate exponentially more data exchange as generative AI advances, and the speed of internal connections now determines whether those GPUs can fully utilize their computational power. The article uses a human-body analogy—GPUs are the "brain," but the optical connectors and cables are the "nerves and blood vessels." If internal communication bottlenecks, raw processing power cannot translate to useful output. Furukawa Electric has positioned itself to capture this demand through recent acquisitions (Hakusan, the #2 MT ferrule connector maker globally) and announced factory expansion in June for next-generation connector products, plus ongoing development of external light sources for next-generation optical communication. A secondary factor mentioned is a stock split that has reduced the share price, potentially making the stock more accessible to retail investors and attracting new capital inflows.