通信行业2023年年报及2024年一季报综述：乘AI东风，迎出口高增

Industry Overview - The communication industry achieved a total revenue of 2447.726 billion yuan in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 6.25%, with IDC, network planning and optimization, IoT, and operators being the sub-sectors with the highest revenue growth [9][10] - The industry's net profit in 2023 was 206.864 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.21%, with IDC, Beidou and military, submarine cables + fiber optic cables, and optical modules being the sub-sectors with the highest net profit growth [13][14] - In Q1 2024, the communication industry's revenue was 626.519 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.82%, with optical chips, connectors, optical modules, and enterprise communication being the sub-sectors with the highest revenue growth [19][20] - The industry's net profit in Q1 2024 was 50.136 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.68%, with network planning and optimization, IoT, optical modules, and smart controllers being the sub-sectors with the highest net profit growth [22][23] AI and 5G Impact - AI-driven demand for computing infrastructure, particularly optical modules, has significantly boosted the communication industry, with 400G/800G optical modules experiencing high growth [40][41] - The development of 5G-A, which offers higher speeds, greater connectivity, and lower latency, is expected to bring incremental growth to the industry, with China Mobile planning to deploy 5G-A in over 300 cities [38] - AI servers and smart computing products are driving growth in the IT sector, with the AI server market in China expected to reach 65 billion yuan in 2023, an 82.5% year-on-year increase [38] Key Companies and Sub-sectors - Operators: Traditional business growth remains stable, with AI computing power and big data driving new growth opportunities. China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom are leading the way with significant increases in cloud business revenue [32][33] - Optical Modules: The industry is transitioning from 400G to 800G, with 1.6T optical modules expected to enter the market soon, driven by AI and data center demand [40][41] - IDC: AIDC demand is booming, with operators actively participating in data center construction. The industry saw a 27.21% revenue growth in 2023, with liquid cooling technology becoming more prevalent due to chip upgrades [52][53] - IoT: The IoT sector is recovering from inventory adjustments, with downstream demand gradually improving. The number of cellular IoT terminal users reached 2.414 billion by the end of March 2024, a significant increase from the previous year [57][58] Financial Performance and Market Trends - The communication industry's gross margin increased by 0.50 percentage points to 27.41% in 2023, with net profit margins also improving slightly [15] - In Q1 2024, the industry's net profit margin increased by 0.21 percentage points to 8.00%, with significant improvements in profitability both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter [25] - Fund holdings in the communication sector increased in Q1 2024, with optical modules and operators being the most favored by institutions. The sector's overall fund holdings reached 3.88%, up 1.14 percentage points from Q4 2023 [27]