CITIC SEC has released a research report stating that the gradual implementation of Token factories is leading to the standardization of Token services. The three major telecom operators have introduced Token packages, bringing standardized Token operations to a mass market. Token factories and operators are driving a reevaluation of the industrial chain's value, shifting the compute power rental model from the current fixed monthly fee based on "bare-metal" server rental duration to a billing model based on actual Token usage. Leading compute power rental firms hold prominent positioning advantages. It is recommended to focus on targets related to Token factories and compute power rental. The main views of CITIC SEC are as follows:
Token factories are being implemented one after another, and Token services are becoming standardized. According to the Nvidia GTC conference in March 2026, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang pointed out, "The data center of the future is not a warehouse for storing files, but a factory for producing Tokens." (1) Hongxin Electronics: According to the company's WeChat public account, in May 2026, the global headquarters of Suihong Huachuang's Token factory, a subsidiary of Hongxin Electronics, officially settled in the Wuxi High-tech Zone. The first batch will deploy 4 Huawei Ascend 384 super-node servers, with each super-node server having a computing power scale of 384 cards. (2) Runjian Co., Ltd.: Accelerating the exploration of the new industrial paradigm of "Token factories," in September 2025, it upgraded the Wuxiang Cloud Valley Intelligent Computing Center and launched the "Star Computing Cloud Pool" product. Leveraging computing power pooling technology, it provides developers with high-performance intelligent computing cloud services, promoting the upgrade of business service models. (3) Chaoxun Communication: In May 2026, it signed the "Artificial Intelligence Business Joint Operation Cooperation Agreement" with Nanyi Intelligence. Both parties will jointly build a Token factory, with Chaoxun Communication leading commercial operations based on its own Token operation platform, and layout market-oriented computing power services such as computing power rental, computing power scheduling, and computing power packages.
The three major telecom operators have launched Token packages, bringing standardized Token operations to a mass market. According to the respective company websites: (1) China Mobile: On April 21, it launched a Token computing power service product for individual users, supporting mainstream large language models such as DeepSeek and Qwen. For existing cloud computer users, a minimum of 5.99 yuan can purchase a usage package, with a monthly package priced at 24.99 yuan, providing a quota of 10 million tokens. (2) China Telecom: On May 17, it officially launched a series of trial commercial Token packages. The basic version for small, medium, and micro enterprises is priced at 39.9 yuan per month (15 million Tokens per month), and the basic version for individual and family customers is priced at 9.9 yuan per month (15 million Tokens per month). (3) China Unicom: On May 16, Shanghai Unicom announced the provision of Token services to Shanghai OPC customers. The China Unicom Cloud website shows that the personal version of the Token Plan is priced at a minimum of 15 yuan per month, with a quota of 6 million Tokens, and the team version is priced at a minimum of 198 yuan per month, with a quota of 25,000 Credits.
Token factories and Token operators are driving a reevaluation of the industrial chain's value, and leading compute power rental firms have prominent positioning advantages. The emergence of Token factories and Token operators marks the transformation of Token generation capability from an ancillary function to a standardized, billable service. This will drive the compute power rental market to shift from the current fixed monthly fee model based on "bare-metal" server rental duration to a billing model based on actual Token usage. When Tokens become the pricing unit for computing power, compute power rental service providers can fully reap the benefits brought by the continuous expansion of Token demand and the rapid penetration of all AI application scenarios. The current high prosperity of the compute power rental industry mainly stems from the supply-demand mismatch in the domestic compute power market, making the positioning advantages of leading rental companies that control high-end computing power chip resources more prominent. Considering the industry's prosperity and the current trend of gradual industry consolidation and concentration towards leading players, the growth elasticity of leading compute power rental manufacturers under the new wave of increasing Token usage is viewed positively.
Risk factors: Risks include slower-than-expected expansion of the Agent ecosystem and commercialization conversion, risks of slower iteration in large model technology or adverse changes in open-source ecosystem policies, risks of limited capacity expansion for domestic AI chips and fluctuations in the underlying hardware supply chain, and risks of deteriorating industry competition landscape.
Comments