Technology

Charting the Depths: The World of Subsea Cables

Published

12 months ago

September 22, 2023

Adam Symington

Featured Creator

Article/Editing:

Bruno Venditti

Charting the Depths: The World of Subsea Cables

Data may be stored in the “cloud,” but when it comes to sending and receiving data, a lot of that action is actually happening along the depths of the ocean floor.

Hidden beneath the waves, these subsea cables account for approximately 95% of international data transmission.

These maps, by Adam Symington, use information from TeleGeography to show the distribution of subsea cables around the planet.

Wired for Connectivity

It’s estimated that there are nearly 1.4 million kilometers (0.9 million miles) of submarine cables in service globally. They ensure emails, content, and calls find their way, linking colossal data centers and facilitating worldwide communication.

Currently, there are 552 active and planned submarine cables:

Submarine cables harness fiber-optic technology, transmitting information via rapid light pulses through glass fibers. These fibers, thinner than human hair, are protected by plastic or even steel wire layers.

Cables usually have the diameter of a garden hose, but often with added armor near the shore. Coastal cables are buried under the seabed, hidden from view on the beach, while deep-sea ones rest on the ocean floor.

Length varies widely, from the 131-kilometer CeltixConnect cable, connecting Dublin, Ireland, and Holyhead, UK, to the sprawling 20,000-kilometer Asia America Gateway cable, connecting San Luis Obispo, California, to Hawaii and Southeast Asia:

Asia America Gateway. Image: TeleGeography

With the current technology, cables are designed to last 25 years at least but are often replaced because of damage. Nearly two-thirds of cable damage is caused by fishing vessels and ships dragging anchors.

The Bottom Line

Traditionally dominated by telecom carriers, the makeup of the subsea cable market has shifted over more recent decades. Tech giants like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon now heavily invest in new cables.

With data demand surging, at least $10 billion is expected to be invested in subsea cables worldwide between 2022 and 2024, driven by cloud service providers and content streaming platforms.

Even with the growth of satellites in telecom, cables still can carry far more data at a much lower cost than satellites. In fact, according to TeleGeography, satellites account for less than 1% of all U.S. international capacity.

This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.

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Technology

Charted: Nvidia’s Quarterly Revenue (Q1 2021-Q2 2025)

Nvidia beat Wall Street estimates for its second-quarter revenue for fiscal 2025, signalling that the AI boom is far from slowing down.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 29, 2024

Kayla Zhu

Nvidia’s Quarterly Revenue (Q1 2021-Q2 2025)

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Nvidia has been the center of attention of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, and its earnings are seen as a key indicator of the health of the AI industry, according to financial experts.

As the second-most valuable company in the world, the chipmaker dominates the AI chip design and software market with a market share of 80% to 95%, according to Reuters.

This chart shows the rise of Nvidia’s quarterly earnings from Q1 2021 to Q2 2025, with figures from Nvidia’s quarterly financial reports updated as of August 28, 2024.

Nvidia Beats Second-Quarter Estimates

Nvidia reported $30 billion in second quarter revenue for fiscal year 2025, beating Wall Street estimates of $28.7 billion by about 4.5%.

This beat on earnings estimates came as Wall Street analysts have begun to question if the current hype around AI is a bubble on the verge of bursting, and if generative AI will actually be worth the significant capital invested in it so far.

Below are Nvidia’s quarterly revenue figures from their fiscal year 2021 to 2025.

For reference, Nvidia’s fiscal year ends on the last Sunday of January, with their fiscal year labeled according to the calendar year in which the fiscal year ends. This means that since their current fiscal year ends in January 2025, the quarter they just reported is labeled Q2 2025.

Quarter	Nvidia's revenue
Q2 2025 Estimate	$28.7B
Q2 2025	$30.0B
Q1 2025	$26.0B
Q4 2024	$22.1B
Q3 2024	$18.1B
Q2 2024	$13.5B
Q1 2024	$7.2B
Q4 2023	$6.1B
Q3 2023	$5.9B
Q2 2023	$6.7B
Q1 2023	$8.3B
Q4 2022	$7.6B
Q3 2022	$7.1B
Q2 2022	$6.5B
Q1 2022	$5.7B
Q4 2021	$5.0B
Q3 2021	$4.7B
Q2 2021	$3.9B
Q1 2021	$3.1B

Nvidia’s Q2 2025 revenue figure of $30 billion is a 15% increase from last quarter and a 122% increase year-over-year. While these figures are impressive, their quarterly revenue growth is starting to show signs of slowing momentum, as the previous three quarters had quarterly growth of 18% (Q1 2025), 22% (Q4 2024), and 34% (Q3 2024).

Nvidia’s main source of revenue comes from its data center business, which includes its AI processors. Its data center generated a record $26.3 billion this quarter, accounting for 88% of the AI giant’s total revenue.

The company said it is currently shipping out samples of its newest next-generation Blackwell GPU architecture to customers.

Nvidia CFO Colette Kress said the company expects to ship “several billion dollars” of Blackwell revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025.

Nvidia expects to generate $32.5 billion in revenue next quarter, plus or minus 2%.