Scorpio X-Series Begins Initial Production with Merchant Scale-Up Switching Market Estimated to Reach $20 billion by 20301
News Highlights:
- Developed in collaboration with hyperscalers, Scorpio X-series products are purpose-built to support scale-up networking, and are now shipping in initial production volumes
- Expanded features will include support for increased radix, platform-specific protocols, in-network computing, Hypercast technology, and optical connectivity
SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 22, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Astera Labs, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALAB), a leader in semiconductor-based connectivity solutions for rack-scale AI infrastructure, today announced an expanded portfolio roadmap that will feature new capabilities, including support for increased radix, platform-specific protocols, in-network computing, Hypercast technology, and optical connectivity. Close collaboration with hyperscale customers and initial platform deployments have revealed new opportunities for the merchant scale-up switching market which is projected to reach $20 billion by 2030. Building upon Scorpio X-Series’ initial momentum, Astera Labs is accelerating investment in the Scorpio X-Series roadmap to further capitalize on this high-growth market opportunity.
The shift toward next-generation AI workloads is fundamentally changing scale-up connectivity requirements. Single clusters are now scaling to hundreds of thousands of AI accelerators that support expanding context windows and multi-turn agentic workflows, with each hyperscaler approaching these challenges with unique architectural approaches optimized for their specific workload profiles. These diverse requirements demand varied connectivity solutions—from different radix configurations to multiple platform-specific protocols, optical connectivity enablement, and advanced traffic management capabilities. Hyperscalers are seeking flexible, purpose-built connectivity solutions optimized for their unique architectural approaches and application needs.
“As hyperscalers scale to larger cluster sizes and deploy more complex AI workloads, they need flexible connectivity portfolios that can address varied architectural approaches—not one-size-fits-all solutions,” said Thad Omura, Chief Business Officer at Astera Labs. “The market opportunity is substantially larger than we initially anticipated, encompassing multiple device configurations, connectivity modalities, and protocol requirements. We’re accelerating our development efforts across the Scorpio X-Series to serve this expanded opportunity and deliver the purpose-built solutions the market demands.”
To address this expanded market opportunity, Astera Labs is rapidly scaling the Scorpio X-Series portfolio in close collaboration with hyperscalers, AI platform providers, and neo-cloud leaders. The broadened roadmap will encompass five feature areas:
- Increased radix support: Multiple device configurations across the Scorpio X-Series family will support varied cluster sizes—from compact deployments to large-scale configurations—enabling hyperscalers to optimize fabric topology for their specific workload requirements.
- Hyperscaler platform-specific protocols: Scorpio X-Series will support customized interconnect protocols used by hyperscalers to optimize workloads and infrastructure, eliminating integration barriers and enabling seamless deployment into hybrid AI infrastructure architectures.
- In-network computing: Scorpio X-Series will feature in-network compute that performs operations directly in the fabric switch, offloading data-intensive work from GPUs to accelerate AI workloads and enable more efficient scaling.
- Hypercast technology: Astera Labs’ enhancement to standard data distribution protocols, purpose-built for AI workloads, will significantly reduce GPU-to-GPU communication overhead and improve overall GPU utilization.
- Optical Connectivity: Scorpio X-Series will incorporate photonic switch-to-accelerator links that will enable multi-rack deployments, allowing domains to scale to thousands of GPUs.
For more information about Scorpio X-Series Smart Fabric Switches, visit the Scorpio Smart Fabric Switches product page.
About Astera Labs
Astera Labs (Nasdaq: ALAB) provides rack-scale AI infrastructure through purpose-built connectivity solutions. By collaborating with hyperscalers and ecosystem partners, Astera Labs enables organizations to unlock the full potential of modern AI. Astera Labs’ Intelligent Connectivity Platform integrates CXL®, Ethernet, NVLink, PCIe®, and UALink™ semiconductor-based technologies with the company’s COSMOS software suite to unify diverse components into cohesive, flexible systems that deliver end-to-end scale-up, and scale-out connectivity. The company’s custom connectivity solutions business complements its standards-based portfolio, enabling customers to deploy tailored architectures to meet their unique infrastructure requirements. Discover more at http://www.asteralabs.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This communication contains certain forward-looking statements regarding Astera Lab’s expectations with respect to merchant scale-up switching market opportunities, product roadmaps, production ramps and timelines, and product roadmap features. Such forward-looking statements are introduced using words such as “anticipated,” “estimated,” “opportunities,” “projected,” “roadmap,” “will” and variations of such words and similar expressions. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of Astera Labs, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, including, among others, the risk that the expected market opportunities may not materialize; we may be unable to achieve or incorporate the expected product features; delays, disruptions, challenges or increased costs in the ability to incorporate product features or achieve the expected product roadmap within the expected timelines; the complexities and uncertainties in developing and implementing solutions based on new features and technologies; litigation or disputes related to our products; macroeconomic conditions, including general semiconductor industry economic conditions; regulatory restrictions; international conflict and other risks and uncertainties described in Astera Lab’s Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and other filings with the SEC.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and no person assumes any obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent that disclosure may be required by law.
Media Contact:
Peter Lo
Peter.lo@asteralabs.com
1 Market size estimate based on Astera Labs’ internal analysis using third-party research.
