Source: Science and Technology Innovation board Daily.
①The latest news is that quick-change connectors are facing a shortage of supply, which may lead to a limited shipment of liquid-cooled servers; ②There are many verification links, plus low willingness of manufacturers to expand production, which is the reason for the long supply cycle of quick-change connectors; ③Server ODM manufacturers expect that the large-scale release of the Nvidia Blackwell series chips will increase customers' willingness to use liquid cooling.
According to the latest report from Digtimes, liquid-cooled AI servers will be trapped in a bottleneck in shipments due to the tense supply of quick-change connectors (UQD).
Quick-change connectors, also known as quick-connectors, are commonly used in computers or servers with liquid cooling systems in the digital age and are one of the key components of liquid cooling systems.
Some industry insiders pointed out that among the zero components required for the liquid cooling system of a server, quick-connectors are the most scarce because leaking is the most taboo in liquid-cooled servers, and the most likely place for leakage is at the quick connector. Therefore, the demand for replacement of this component is relatively high.
Furthermore, industry insiders said that quick-change connector manufacturers often have patent protection, and from production to supply, they often go through multiple verifications, including OCP certification and client approval, and the willingness of existing manufacturers to expand production is low. This leads to a longer overall supply cycle for this component.
In recent years, with the continuous development of chip performance and the continuous increase in power consumption, air-cooling heat dissipation is close to its limit, and the importance of liquid cooling systems is gradually increasing. It was reported earlier that from B100, Nvidia will gradually switch all product heat dissipation technologies from air cooling to liquid cooling.
Currently, the Nvidia Blackwell series chips, including B100 and B200, will be shipped gradually starting from 2024, and AI servers will also be shipped soon.
In response to this, some server ODM manufacturers pointed out that currently, most B100 and B200 customers still choose air cooling design, but the penetration rate of liquid cooling heat dissipation is also steadily increasing, and it is expected that customers' willingness to use liquid cooling heat dissipation will increase with the large-scale release of the Blackwell series chips.
According to the latest research from TrendForce, AI server order demand has steadily increased in the first half of this year, and the new generation of Nvidia Blackwell GB200 servers will also enter the mass production and shipment phase in the third quarter of this year. It is expected that products such as GB200 and B100 will be officially released from the fourth quarter of this year to the first quarter of 2025.
In the future, demand for liquid cooling will further increase. Guosheng Securities pointed out that for domestic computing power, the shortage of semiconductor processes needs to be supplemented by heat dissipation. The demand for liquid cooling at home and abroad is expected to form a resonance. Liquid cooling, from "optional" to "mandatory", will significantly increase market space and become an important subdivision of computing power.
Caitong Securities stated that traditional air cooling cannot meet the heat dissipation requirements of AI computing. It is estimated that the global liquid cooling-related product market size will reach several hundred billion yuan by 2027. Driven by the demand for large AI models and led by AI hardware leader Nvidia, the global data center liquid cooling market is expected to accelerate growth.
Editor/Lambor