From setting standards to going global, Lenovo (00992) Liquid Cooling: The underestimated core player.

On November 13th, the A-share liquid cooling server sector saw a strong surge, becoming the most eye-catching scenery in the capital market. Within the sector, Shenzhen Fluence Technology PLC. led the way with a 20% increase, Sanhe Tongfei Refrigeration rose by over 10%, Shenzhen Envicool Technology hit the limit up, and stocks such as Suzhou Jinfu Technology and Guangdong Shenling Environmental Systems also performed actively, showing the market's attention to the liquid cooling track. Against the backdrop of the sector's collective rise, the global leading liquid cooling server core manufacturer LENOVO GROUP (00992) experienced short-term stock price fluctuations, sparking market discussion. In fact, as a "veteran" who has been deeply involved in the liquid cooling field for nearly 20 years, Lenovo has formed a comprehensive competitive advantage in terms of technological accumulation, large-scale application, and ecosystem construction. Its true value in the liquid cooling track is gradually being discovered by the market, with a clear and solid long-term growth logic. The outbreak of the liquid cooling server sector is not accidental but the inevitable result of the surge in computing power demand and policy guidance. As AI generation and large model training enter a large-scale stage, server computing power density has exponentially increased, making traditional air cooling technology inadequate to meet the cooling needs of high-density computing clusters. Data shows that the power of an AI server can reach 10-20 times that of a regular server, with some high-end AI servers exceeding 50KW per unit. Air cooling systems not only have insufficient cooling efficiency but also lead to high data center PUE (power usage effectiveness). In this context, liquid cooling technology, with its high cooling efficiency, low energy consumption, and minimal noise advantages, has upgraded from a "technical option" to a "must-have configuration." On the policy front, the "dual carbon" goal and the strategy for digital economic development provide strong impetus for the development of liquid cooling technology. The National Development and Reform Commission explicitly includes "high efficiency refrigeration technology" in the "national key promoted low-carbon technology catalog", while the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has proposed that by 2025, the penetration rate of liquid cooling will increase from 15% to 38%, with 100% liquid cooling required at the eight major hubs for eastern and western calculations. Unlike some enterprises within the sector focusing on liquid cooling components, LENOVO GROUP has built a "full-stack" liquid cooling capability from core technology R&D, whole-machine solution design to full-lifecycle services. As early as 2006, Lenovo initiated liquid cooling pre-research, making it one of the earliest domestic technology companies to layout the liquid cooling track. After nearly 20 years of technological iterations, Lenovo has developed liquid cooling solutions covering cold-plate, immersion, spray cooling, and other full technical routes, with its independently developed Neptune liquid cooling system becoming an industry benchmark product. By the third quarter of 2025, Lenovo's Neptune liquid cooling system had been deployed globally in over 80,000 sets, covering critical sectors such as artificial intelligence, supercomputing, government affairs, finance, and automotive. In terms of technological maturity, Lenovo's liquid cooling solution has obtained multiple international authoritative certifications such as ISO, IEEE, and has also participated in the formulation of 12 industry standards such as "requirements and test methods for liquid cooling technology in data centers", positioning its technology discourse in the forefront of the industry. The abundant landing cases are the best proof of Lenovo's strength in liquid cooling technology. Its solutions have withstood stringent tests in multiple major projects, demonstrating strong scene adaptability. In the automotive manufacturing field, to support the operation of Geely Star Vision Intelligence Computing Center, Lenovo tailored the Askday Neptune liquid cooling solution, optimizing the heat dissipation path design for Beijing Vastdata Technology's processing needs in automotive research and development, keeping the annual average PUE at 1.1, which can reduce approximately 3179 tons of carbon emissions per year. In the field of education and scientific research, Lenovo's liquid cooling technology also plays an important role. With its technical support, the liquid-cooled data center of South China University of Technology not only reduces energy consumption by 30% but also achieves a Linpack efficiency of 90%, ranking at the forefront among university supercomputing centers. It is worth noting that Lenovo's liquid cooling solution has also achieved breakthroughs in "going global", providing liquid cooling solutions for projects including the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, the Korea Meteorological Administration, and the Canadian Meteorological Administration. The depth and breadth of ecological cooperation further amplify Lenovo's competitive advantage in the liquid cooling track, solidifying its leading position. In the chip field, Lenovo has established long-term strategic cooperation with top global chip manufacturers such as NVIDIA, AMD. Among them, the Lenovo ThinkSystem SC777 V4 Neptune liquid-cooled AI server, jointly launched with NVIDIA, brings NVIDIA's leading acceleration computing and AI technology to the enterprise market, achieving trillion-parameter AI models in a compact design. The positive response between financial data and business prospects provides strong support for the long-term growth of Lenovo's liquid cooling business. Lenovo's financial report for the first quarter of 2025 shows that revenue from liquid cooling-related business increased by 68% year-on-year, showing impressive performance. With the surge in demand for AI computing power, the liquid cooling server market is expected to see exponential growth. A recent report from Goldman Sachs points out that the global server cooling market is encountering structural growth opportunities. With expected increases in AI server shipments and rapid growth in liquid cooling penetration rate, the total global server cooling market is projected to grow by 111%/77%/26% year-over-year from 2025 to 2027, reaching $17.6 billion in 2027. In this market, Lenovo, with its three-fold advantages of "technological leadership, rich cases, and complete ecosystem", is poised to continue to increase its market share.