April 24, 2020
Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
*This press release was originally published in Japanese on March 13, 2020.

Sumitomo Electric Acquires Thunderbolt 3 Certification for
Active Optical Cables
Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. is proud to announce that it has acquired
Thunderbolt 3 certification for its new active optical cables (AOCs) from Intel
Corporation, the company that established the Thunderbolt 3 standard. Sumitomo
Electric developed 40 Gbps Thunderbolt 3 AOCs for high-speed transmission tomeet the needs for long-distance transmission.
Thunderbolt is a general-purpose fast data transmission standard for data
communication between a personal computer and peripheral devices such asdisplays.*1 Sumitomo Electric undertook the development of Thunderbolt cables basedon technical specifications disclosed by Intel, the developer of the technology. In 2010,
Sumitomo Electric acquired the world’s first Thunderbolt certification. In November
2015, the Company obtained another certification for Thunderbolt 3 cables (electriccables) that enable 40 Gbps transmission.*2 Since then, Sumitomo Electric has been
selling Thunderbolt 3 cables as a major vendor of the products.
The Thunderbolt 3 cables currently in the market feature a maximum transmission
speed of 40 Gbps and a maximum length of 2.0 m,*3 and are often used for multiple 4K
displays and gaming PCs. In the fields of video production and virtual reality, there are
growing needs for longer-distance transmission cables. Against this backdrop,
Sumitomo Electric developed the Thunderbolt
3 AOCs*4 by combining its optical fiber cabletechnology with its optical module technology.
The Thunderbolt 3 AOCs enable transmission
up to 50 m, while maintaining a transmission
speed of 40 Gbps.
Based on the certified technology, Sumitomo

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Thunderbolt 3 AOC

Electric will explore the possibility of developing products to meet the market demand
for long-distance transmission.

References:•Thunderbolt Website:
https://global-sei.com/ewp/E/thunderbolt/•

Press release, May 21, 2013:"Sumitomo Electric Receives Certification for the World’s Thinnest
Thunderbolt Cable"
https://global-sei.com/news/press/13/prs053_s.html•

Press release, November 17, 2015
“Sumitomo Electric Receives Thunderbolt 3 Cable Certification fromIntel”
https://global-sei.com/company/press/2015/11/prs090.html•Press release, December 11, 2019:"Sumitomo Electric Launches Thunderbolt™ 3 Cables on AmazonJapan”
https://global-sei.com/company/press/2019/12/prs096.html*1 The Thunderbolt technology is a standard for fast general-purpose data transmission
developed by Intel Corporation in collaboration with Apple Inc.
*2 This is the maximum transmission rate achievable when the cable is used to connect
Thunderbolt 3-compatible devices.
*3 Sumitomo Electric offers active electric cables of up to 2.0 m whose connector atboth ends incorporates a signal compensation IC, and passive electric cables ofup to 0.8 m whose connector at both ends does not incorporate a signal
compensation IC.
*4 Thunderbolt 3 AOCs support only Thunderbolt signals as fast signals. These opticalcables do not support power supply. They support Mac computers only.
・ Thunderbolt and the Thunderbolt logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of2/3

Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries.
・ Mac is a trademark of Apple Inc. registered in the United States and othercountries.
・ Other company names and product names in this news release are trademarks orregistered trademarks of the respective companies.
■ Reference
Sumitomo Electric's Website
https://sumitomoelectric.com/

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