The Zhitong Finance App learned that Zhongtai Securities released a research report saying that the increase in AI liquid cooling penetration rate is compounded by the increase in full-container shipments, and mainland manufacturers are actively entering the overseas liquid cooling supply chain. TrendForce predicts that the liquid cooling penetration rate of AI chips will rise from about 33% in 2025 to 53% in 2026, and Nvidia's GB/VR full-cabinet solution shipments are expected to double year-on-year. In line with the trend of liquid cooling volume, mainland manufacturers are entering the overseas liquid cooling supply chain. According to data from CCD consultants, China's liquid-cooled data center market will reach 15.98 billion yuan in 2025, an increase of 45.2% over the previous year. Among them, sales of liquid cooling equipment and components reached 14.89 billion yuan, accounting for about 93%. At the same time, Nvidia expanded ODM/OEM supplier selection and Google disclosed CDU technical specifications, providing opportunities for mainland manufacturers to further expand into core components such as UQD and CDU.
The main views of Zhongtai Securities are as follows:
The power consumption of AI cabinets continues to rise, and Nvidia, Google and domestic supernodes are jointly driving the demand for liquid cooling
The growing demand for AI computing power is driving the continuous expansion of data centers, and the power of AI cabinets is also increasing rapidly. The power of traditional data center cabinets is usually about 5 to 10 kW, the power of the GB200 NVL72 cabinet is about 125-135 kW, and the next generation cabinet GB300 NVL72 is raised to about 132-140 kW. The power of the AI cabinet increases rapidly, and the cooling pressure of traditional air cooling increases, and liquid cooling is gradually becoming an important cooling method for high-power AI cabinets.
Nvidia's demand for liquid cooling is also benefiting from increased cabinet shipments and improved single-cabinet liquid cooling configurations. The GB200 entered the large-scale deployment stage, and GB300 and Vera Rubin were released one after another. Among them, Rubin was further upgraded from liquid cooling of key components such as CPU and GPU to full liquid cooling of the entire cabinet, incorporating components such as networks, power supply, and optical modules into liquid cooling and eliminating system fans, driving the continuous increase in cold plates, UQD, manifold, and piping configurations. According to J.P. Morgan, the value of Vera Rubin's single cabinet cooling module is about 37% higher than the GB300 without the CDU. At the same time, Google continues to expand the TPU liquid cooling cluster, and Meta is speeding up the use of liquid cooling in new AI data centers. Domestic supernodes such as Ali and Huawei have increased computing power by increasing the number of chips and the scale of connectivity, and system power consumption and cooling requirements have increased simultaneously. Demand for liquid cooling was further expanded from Nvidia to more AI computing power platforms.
Cold plate liquid cooling has entered large-scale applications, and Rubin has further increased the value of secondary side liquid cooling
Cold plate liquid cooling is currently the mainstream application scheme. The upstream liquid cooling industry chain provides liquid cooling equipment and components. The midstream is responsible for system design, integration and delivery. The downstream is mainly for Internet and cloud vendors, telecom operators, and government and enterprise customers. The liquid cooling system consists of two circuits on the primary side and the secondary side. The secondary side takes heat directly from the chip, and the primary side is responsible for discharging heat from the computer room. The CDU connects the two circuits and completes heat transfer. The cold plate type is more mature and there are few changes to the existing server structure. It has now become the main liquid cooling solution for data centers.
Rubin full liquid cooling has further increased the number of secondary side liquid cooling components and liquid circuits, and promoted the continuous upgrading of liquid cooling supporting specifications. As the coverage of liquid cooling was expanded from GPUs and CPUs to components such as DIMMs, switching chips, and optical modules, the internal tray and cabinet-level liquid circuits increased simultaneously, leading to improved configurations such as cold plates, UQD, manifolds, and piping. At the same time, the cold plate was upgraded to higher power chips, UQD was upgraded to a larger flow and blind insertion structure, Manifold further increased liquid distribution in the tray, and the CDU was upgraded to MW level power and greater liquid supply capacity.
Taiwanese and European and American manufacturers are the main suppliers in the overseas liquid cooling supply chain, and domestic manufacturers are speeding up their entry
The supply of core components for liquid cooling from overseas is concentrated, with Taiwanese and European and American manufacturers as the main suppliers. Nvidia and Google's Coldboard, Manifold, UQD, and CDU are mainly composed of Qiyuan, Shuanghong, Vertiv, etc.
Supplied by Taiwanese and European and American companies. Among Taiwanese manufacturers, Qiqi, Shuanghong, and Cooler Master are highly competitive. Among European and American manufacturers, Vertiv is in a leading position. Coolit and Boyd are also important competitors. Take the Vera Rubin cold plate as an example. As of April 2026, Cooler Master, AVC, Kense Precision, and Delta had shares of about 54%, 23%, 15%, and 6%, respectively.
Recommended to follow
CDU and liquid cooling system related targets: Invec, Shenling Environmental, Gaolan Co., Ltd.
Cold plate and liquid cooling pipeline components related targets: Jinfu Technology, Wuyang Automatic Control, Jindi Co., Ltd., Hongfuhan, Yidong Electronics, Qiangrui Technology, Foster
Related targets for heat dissipation materials and supporting equipment: Zhongshi Technology, Hongfucheng, Siquan New Materials, Hongshida
Risk warning: Data center construction progress falls short of expectations; AI server and liquid cooling cabinet shipments fall short of expectations; liquid cooling technology application progress falls short of expectations; increased industry competition and falling product prices; changes in the supply chain pattern; geopolitical and policy disturbances; risk of untimely information updates.