Kaiyuan Securities released a research report stating that, according to industry monitoring, a surge in AI computing demand at the beginning of 2026 has driven the computing power leasing market into a price increase cycle. The proliferation of AI applications and the OpenClaw framework may ignite inference demand. Combined with constraints on NVIDIA's production capacity, rising hardware costs, and a gap in domestic substitution, the market is being driven into a "seller's market." The report judges that price increases for computing power leasing are likely to persist and emphasizes the importance of paying attention to investment opportunities in AI Cloud IaaS. The development of OpenClaw could significantly boost demand for AI Cloud IaaS. Tencent Cloud's price increase opens up long-term room for price hikes in AI Cloud IaaS. AIDC, computing power leasing, and CDN, as core components of AI Cloud IaaS, are expected to benefit substantially. The main points from Kaiyuan Securities are as follows:
Internet giants are competing to deploy domestic alternatives, and the arms race on the inference side is intensifying. Following the launch of OpenClaw, domestic internet giants quickly began local adaptation and computing power support. Tencent's Lighthouse cloud service was the first to launch a one-click deployment template and visual panel for OpenClaw. Baidu Intelligent Cloud introduced an OpenClaw deployment solution based on its lightweight application server configuration. Regarding model providers, as of March 9th, base models from Chinese large model startups accounted for over half of the slots for OpenClaw. The popularity of OpenClaw validates the feasibility of Agent AI implementation. Internet giants have subsequently launched their own products对标 OpenClaw: At the end of February, Alibaba officially open-sourced its CoPaw personal agent workstation, completely revamping the product from the underlying architecture to the user experience. On March 6th, Xiaomi began a small-scale closed beta for its AI interaction test product, Xiaomi miclaw, built on its MiMo large model. On March 9th, Tencent's full-scenario AI agent WorkBuddy and Volcano Engine's SaaS assistant ArkClaw were officially launched. On March 10th, Zhipu launched AutoClaw for local one-click deployment. On March 11th, Huawei launched a beta version of "XiaoYi Claw" based on its HarmonyOS.
Driven by these agents, inference computing power demand on the application side is entering a phase of rapid growth. The arms race around domestic alternatives is likely to become a trend, expected to drive sustained growth in AI Cloud IaaS computing power.
The wave of leasing price increases is sweeping across the entire market, with Tencent Cloud officially announcing price hikes. According to industry monitoring, the surge in AI computing demand at the start of 2026 has driven the computing power leasing market into a price increase cycle. As of the end of February, rental prices for high-end GPUs like NVIDIA's H200 and H100 have increased by 15%-30% month-over-month. The hourly rate for H200 reached 7.5-8.0 RMB per card-hour, with monthly rents at 60,000-66,000 RMB, representing a 25%-30% increase. Monthly rents for H100 rose to 55,000-60,000 RMB, a 15%-20% increase. Delivery cycles have extended to Q2 2027 for H200 and Q1 2027 for H100. Leading manufacturers such as UCloud and Senhua Yiteng have officially announced comprehensive price increases of 20%-30% for March. According to reports, Tencent Cloud's agent development platform announced an adjustment to its billing strategy on March 11th, with public test models shifting from free to pay-as-you-go on the 13th, and the Hunyuan series models seeing price increases generally exceeding 400%.
The proliferation of AI applications and the OpenClaw framework may ignite inference demand. Combined with constraints on NVIDIA's production capacity, rising hardware costs, and a gap in domestic substitution, the market is being driven into a "seller's market." The report judges that price increases are likely to persist and emphasizes the importance of paying attention to investment opportunities in AI Cloud IaaS.
Focus on three core sectors poised to benefit from AI Cloud IaaS price increases: AIDC, Computing Power Leasing, and CDN. The development of OpenClaw could significantly boost demand for AI Cloud IaaS. Tencent Cloud's price increase opens up long-term room for price hikes in AI Cloud IaaS. AIDC, computing power leasing, and CDN, as core components of AI Cloud IaaS, are expected to benefit substantially.
1) AIDC Data Centers. Recommended stocks: Sinnet (300383.SZ), Singapore Telecommunications (SGTel) (01686), Baosight Software (600845.SH), Dawei Technology (600589.SH), OFFLINK (300738.SZ), RunZe Technology (300442.SZ). Potential beneficiaries: Dongyangguang (600673.SH), Shanghai AtHub (603881.SH), GDS Holdings (09698), 21Vianet Group (VNET.US), etc. 2) AIDC Liquid Cooling. Recommended stock: Envicool (leader in fully self-developed liquid cooling chains) (002837.SZ). Potential beneficiaries: Shenling Environment (301018.SZ), Far East Holdings (600869.SH), Feilong Auto Parts (002536.SZ), Yinlun (002126.SZ), Tongfei (300990.SZ), Wangsu Science & Technology (300017.SZ), Gaolan (300499.SZ), etc. 3) AIDC Power Supply. Potential beneficiaries: Zhongheng Electric (002364.SZ), Keta Electrics (300153.SZ), Weichai Heavy Machinery (000880.SZ), etc. 4) Computing Power Leasing. Potential beneficiaries: Hongjing Technology (301396.SZ), Xc Xiangchen (300857.SZ), JWIPC (001339.SZ), Capital Online (300846.SZ), Ranjian (002929.SZ), Zhongbei Communications (603220.SH), Hangjin Technology (000818.SZ), etc. 5) CDN. Potential beneficiaries: Wangsu Science & Technology (300017.SZ), etc. 6) AIDC Computing and Networking. Recommended stocks: HG Tech (000988.SZ), Centec (688702.SH), Zhongji Innolight (300308.SZ), Eoptolink (300502.SZ), Hengtong Optic-Electric (600487.SH), Zhongtian Technology (600522.SH), ZTE (000063.SZ), Unisplendour (000938.SZ), Oulute (300870.SZ), TFC (300394.SZ). Potential beneficiaries: Cambricon (688256.SH), Hygon (688041.SH), Huaqin Technology (603296.SH), Inspur Information (000977.SZ), Ruijie Networks (301165.SZ), Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable (06869), Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable (601869.SH), Far East Holdings (600869.SH), FiberHome Telecommunication Technologies (600498.SH), Yongding (600105.SH), Robotech (300757.SZ), Focuslight (688167.SH), ZSUN (301486.SZ), JPT (688025.SH), etc.
Risk warnings include 5G construction falling short of expectations, AI development falling short of expectations, and Sino-US trade frictions.
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