CITIC Securities says that in AI diffusion end users often avoid the most
compute‑intensive models due to token‑budget constraints. Q2 strength in compute
hardware was driven mainly by price rises rather than volume; as market focus
shifts from scarcity to sustainability, markets such as Korean equities have
adjusted. Compute is not in surplus, but the evolution of supplier bargaining
power is becoming decisive. US corporate AI adoption is rising and enterprise
tech investment intensity remains in line with long‑run trends; CITIC expects
competition to drive firms to deploy AI for productivity gains, creating demand
for compute services, AI models and applications. The firm remains constructive
on the US tech theme, preferring mid‑to‑downstream segments of the overseas
compute chain and viewing US equities as more attractive than Japanese and
Korean peers.
