Zhongyuan Securities·2026-02-13 08:11Investment Rating - The report maintains an "Outperform" rating for the industry, indicating a positive outlook compared to the broader market [3]. Core Insights - The AI application landscape is rapidly evolving, with significant advancements expected in 2026, which will impact traditional sectors such as software, film, and media [6]. - Domestic AI models are increasingly competitive with international counterparts, particularly in terms of performance and cost, suggesting a potential shift in the global AI model competition [6]. - The demand for AI inference is rising sharply, leading to increased pricing actions from model and cloud service providers, which benefits companies within the industry [6]. Industry Data Summary 1. Industry Data - The software industry in 2025 is projected to generate revenues of 15.48 trillion yuan, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 13.2% [12]. - The IC design sector is expected to grow by 18.9% in 2025, while cloud computing and big data services are anticipated to grow by 13.6% [19]. - The information technology service revenue is expected to increase by 14.7%, further solidifying its share of the overall software business revenue to 68.7% [27]. 2. AI Developments - Major AI models are being released, with significant competition expected in the market, particularly with the upcoming launches of models like DeepSeek-V4 and others in February 2026 [33]. - The pricing of domestic models is significantly lower than that of international models, enhancing their attractiveness for various applications [39]. - The user engagement for AI applications is increasing, with notable growth in active users for platforms like Gemini and ChatGPT [44]. 3. Domestic Market Dynamics - Domestic chip manufacturers are expected to benefit from restrictions on foreign competitors, with companies like Huawei and Dawning making significant advancements in AI computing capabilities [6]. - The report highlights the increasing capital expenditures from overseas tech firms, raising concerns about market dynamics [6]. - The MaaS (Model as a Service) market is projected to grow rapidly, with significant contributions from companies like ByteDance and Alibaba [56].