San Francisco – October 31, 2026 -- Data center Ethernet switch revenues and shipments each grew 25% year-over-year in the first half of 2025, with generative AI a key growth driver, according to Crehan Research.
General data center compute networking demand was also solid. The AI build-out is changing how quickly new port speeds ramp, however.
800GbE branded switch adoption runs almost 100 times ahead of 400GbE
Deployments of 800 gigabit Ethernet (GbE) switches surged alongside generative AI growth. Adoption is proving much faster than that of 400GbE, Crehan said. In branded data center switching, the 800GbE adoption curve to date is almost one hundred times better than that of 400GbE.
Crehan Research President Seamus Crehan said generative AI has produced much steeper and faster adoption curves for new higher Ethernet speeds.
Arista takes top 800GbE share as shipments near 3 million-port run-rate
Arista's 800GbE shipments neared a 3 million port annualized run-rate in 2Q25. That was the company's quickest ever approach to this quarterly level with a new Ethernet speed, and it gave Arista the top market share position in branded 800GbE data center switches.
H3C doubles 400GbE shipments past 1 million ports on China hyperscaler demand
H3C's 400GbE shipments more than doubled in 2Q25 to surpass one million ports in the quarter, driven by strong China hyperscaler demand. The company holds the second-largest share of branded 400GbE data center switch shipments.
Huawei nearly doubles switch revenue sequentially on AI deployments
Huawei's data center Ethernet switch revenue almost doubled sequentially on the strength of AI network deployments. Its switches are part of the recently introduced CloudMatrix 384 AI system.
Crehan said networking for large generative AI cluster build-outs is driving dramatic quarter-to-quarter market share shifts at the highest speeds.