2025年液冷全产业链解析：AI时代散热革命，各环节下的价值拆解

Investment Rating - The report does not explicitly state an investment rating for the liquid cooling industry. Core Insights - The Chinese liquid cooling industry is structured into three tightly connected segments: upstream (core components), midstream (liquid cooling IT equipment and technology), and downstream (application empowerment and infrastructure construction) [2][7]. Upstream Summary - The upstream segment is the core foundation of the entire industry chain, comprising high-value and high-barrier components such as cooling liquids, cold plates, quick connectors, and CDU. This segment directly determines system cooling efficiency, safety, and reliability. The average gross profit margin in this segment is over 25%-30%, with some high-barrier technology segments reaching 40%-60%, which is higher than midstream and downstream [3][11]. - Currently, the market is characterized by international giants dominating the high-end market, while domestic companies accelerate replacement in niche areas and achieve breakthroughs in some core segments [3][11]. Midstream Summary - The midstream segment serves as the core transformation and integration link, focusing on cold plate and immersion liquid cooling systems, CDU, and liquid cooling servers. Customized solutions are provided to meet the high power density cooling demands of downstream applications. The current landscape shows leading companies dominating, with differentiated competition between domestic and international players, and accelerated domestic replacement driven by AI [4][10]. - Future developments are expected to trend towards integrated solutions, intelligent integration, penetration of immersion technology, and deep collaboration with upstream and downstream partners [4][10]. Downstream Summary - The downstream segment is driven by demand, primarily focusing on data centers. The current situation is characterized by dual drivers from policies (carbon neutrality, East Data West Computing) and the explosion of AI computing power, leading to rapid market expansion and increasing penetration of liquid cooling in high-density scenarios. Future trends will involve deepening technology towards immersion, standardization, and intelligent upgrades [5][18]. - In terms of infrastructure construction, the three major telecom operators in China have formed a unified vision and differentiated development in liquid cooling infrastructure. As of January-May 2025, the proportion of new projects utilizing liquid cooling has reached 60%-70%, with improved compatibility between domestic computing cards and liquid cooling equipment [15][17].