SUGAR LAND, Texas, April 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAOI), a leading provider of advanced optical and HFC networking products powering AI, today announced plans to expand its Houston-area footprint through the addition of two adjacent buildings in Pearland, Texas, adding approximately 388,000 square feet of manufacturing capacity.
The expansion builds on AOI’s existing U.S. operations, which include a 210,000-square-foot manufacturing facility currently under development near its Sugar Land headquarters, where the company operates 135,000 square feet of capacity, as well as a recently leased 154,000-square-foot building at Blue Ridge Commerce Center.
“The demand for optical connectivity in data centers has exceeded our expectations,” said Dr. Thompson Lin, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of AOI. “We are focused on ensuring every critical function—from supply chain and manufacturing capacity to quality, reliability, and customer support—is positioned to scale rapidly to meet this demand. With the acquisition of these properties, we will have the footprint to expand our capacity to produce up to 700,000 units of 800G and 1.6T transceivers per month in the Houston area, while also expanding our laser fabrication capacity by around 350% by the end of 2027.”
“This expansion is aligned with the 2027 capacity targets we outlined on our most recent earnings call and represents the next step in our strategy to become the premier high-volume U.S. producer of AI-focused data center transceivers and optics,” said Dr. Stefan Murry, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer. “By expanding our footprint now, we are ensuring we can meet accelerating customer demand and support the next wave of AI infrastructure deployments.”
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About AOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (AOI) is a leading developer and manufacturer of advanced optical and HFC networking products that are the building blocks for AI datacenters, CATV and broadband fiber access networks around the world. AOI supplies this critical infrastructure to tier-one customers across cloud computing, CATV broadband, telecom, and FTTH markets. The company has R&D facilities in Atlanta, GA, and engineering and manufacturing facilities at its corporate headquarters in Sugar Land, TX, as well as in Taipei, Taiwan and Ningbo, China. For additional information, visit www.ao-inc.com.
Media contact:
Sara Cicero
sara_cicero@ao-inc.com
770-331-0269
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