The Zhitong Finance App learned that Guolian Minsheng Securities released a research report saying that the World Artificial Intelligence Conference will be held in Shanghai, and terminal applications are expected to drive sector valuation repair. Core categories such as smartphones, PCs, and glasses have entered a new stage of comprehensive competition of “system-level AI capability+end-side computing power+application ecology”, and the consumer electronics industry chain is expected to usher in a new round of growth curve. AI-enabled terminals are expected to benefit manufacturers of consumer electronics, smart cockpits, physical intelligence and upstream components.
The main views of the League of Nations Minsheng Securities are as follows:
WAIC 2026 has begun, and intensive AI terminal innovation is expected to catalyze valuation repair in the consumer electronics sector
This year's World Artificial Intelligence Conference will be held in Shanghai from July 17 to 20. Leading manufacturers such as Lenovo and Honor will focus on showcasing next-generation smart terminals such as AI PCs, AI phones, and AI glasses. The integration of AI technology and consumer electronics hardware has entered a period of accelerated implementation. The bank believes that AI is penetrating deeply from the cloud to the terminal side, pushing core categories such as smartphones, PCs, and glasses into a new stage of comprehensive competition of “system-level AI capability+end-side computing power+application ecology”, and the consumer electronics industry chain is expected to usher in a new round of growth curve.
AI phones and AI PCs have entered a structural upgrade cycle, and high-end has become the core main line
Affected by rising storage costs, global smartphone shipments are expected to drop 8.4% year on year in 2026; Omdia predicts that smartphone shipments under $400 will drop by more than 22% year on year in 2026, while models above $400 are still expected to grow 5.7%, and AI functions are becoming the core gripper for high-end applications. In terms of AI PCs, the Microsoft Copilot+ PC standard raised the NPU computing power threshold to above 40 TOPS, 16GB memory and 256GB SSD became the bottom line for mainstream configurations, the NPU/CPU/GPU heterogeneous architecture and storage configuration upgrades drove the value of the industrial chain upward, and high-end PCs and commercial AI PCs became structural growth directions.
AI glasses shipments are growing, and SoC is the core value link in the industry chain
According to iResearch's forecasts, global AI eyewear shipments will exceed 10 million in 2026 and rise to 26 million units in 2028. The product form of AI glasses “hardware+AI+shooting+voice” is gradually evolving to AI+AR integration. SoCs account for about 34% of BOM costs as the largest single hardware item, and are rapidly iterating in the direction of low power consumption and high performance NPU.
End-side SoC chips are expected to usher in value revaluation, and domestic manufacturers accelerate product iteration and customer introduction
The intensive implementation of AI terminals is driving SoC upgrades from traditional audio and video processing to “high NPU computing power+low power consumption+strong ISP”. Rockchip released a next-generation AI vision processor RV1126B in 2025, with a built-in 3TOPS self-developed NPU that can run large language models and multi-modal models within 2B parameters; Hengxuan Technology's BES2800 has already launched benchmark AI glasses projects such as Ariquark and Ideal. Domestic SoC manufacturers are moving from mature manufacturing processes to advanced manufacturing processes, and from single functions to multi-modal AI platforms.
Investment advice
AI-enabled terminals, consumer electronics, smart cockpit, and upstream component manufacturers are expected to benefit. The bank suggests focusing on: 1) brands and ODM manufacturers: Communication Holdings, Goertek; 2) Upstream supply chain: Lixun Precision, Lingyi Intelligent Manufacturing, Lansi Technology, Crystal Optoelectronics, Lante Optics, Sunyu Optical Technology, Gaowei Electronics, Starway, Howell Group, etc.; 3) SoC: Rockchip, Quanzhi Technology. Recommended vendors that are expected to benefit deeply from the AI side: 1) SoC: Jingchen Co., Ltd., Hengxuan Technology, Lexin Technology; 2) ODM vendors:
Huaqin Technology, Longqi Technology.
Risk warning: risk of demand for AI terminals falling short of expectations; risk of rising storage and core component costs; risk of increased competition and technology iteration in the SoC industry; risk of uncertain AI technology standards and ecosystem implementation.