Many folks in the industry will already recognize Amphenol, the company that is poised to become one of the major new vendors in the industry. The company has decided to grow quickly by acquisition. It recently purchased the Connectivity and Cable Solutions subsidiary from CommScope for $10.5 billion. Amphenol also bought Trexon, a cable assembly business, for $1 billion.
Amphenol is a worldwide business with manufacturing facilities in forty countries. The company is in a wide range of markets, including military-aerospace, industrial, automotive, information technology, mobile phones, wireless infrastructure, broadband, medical, and pro audio. The largest division of Amphenol is Amphenol Aerospace (formerly Bendix Corporation).
In the telecom world, Amphenol Fiber Systems International (AFSI) was started in 1993 to manufacture fiber optic connectivity products and systems in Allen, Texas. In July 2024, Amphenol purchased two subsidiaries from CommScope. The company paid $2.1 billion to buy the Outdoor Wireless Networks (OWN) and the Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) business. Amphenol also resurrected the Andrew Corporation brand name, a company previously acquired by CommScope, that manufactures tower and rooftop systems and cable management accessories.
Amphenol’s acquisitions are not just focused on telecom, and recent acquisitions include Carlisle Interconnect Technologies (CIT) which makes antennas and sensors for harsh environments; Lutze, a railway technology company; LifeSync, a manufacturer of connectors, antennas, and sensors for the medical industry; Narda-MITEQ, a maker of RF and microwave equipment for the military; XMA, a manufacturer of passive microwave components; and Q Microwave, which specializes in RF filters and subsystems for the military and space sectors.
The many acquisitions have already boosted 2025 earnings for the first half of the year. The strategic acquisitions contributed 15% to the first half of 2025 revenues. On a reported basis, revenues jumped 52% and excluding acquisition-related contributions, organic growth was 37% to hit $10.46 billion. In second-quarter 2025, revenues jumped 57% year over year on a reported basis and 41% organically to $5.65 billion.
The acquisition of CommScope’s fiber business makes Amphenol a major player in the broadband business. This puts Amphenol in competition with companies like Corning, Belden, and Prysmian. The company is also hoping for a big boost from selling fiber to supply the current AI explosion.
The CommScope sale might surprise some, but the company was in trouble due to a massive debt load of over $7 billion, and slower-than-expected sales that led to inventory build-ups in its broadband and cable access segments.