China Server Shipments Bottom Out: Q3 Volume of Only 50,000 Unit

Server Shipments Decline for Two Consecutive Quarters, Falling t

According to the latest data from DataTrack, global server shipments in the third quarter of 2025 slipped to 270.0 K pcs, down approximately 3.6% from the previous quarter's 280.0 K pcs, and a decline of 6.9% compared to the same period last year. Following the peak in the first quarter of this year (300.0 K pcs), this marks two consecutive quarters of volume contraction, indicating that the market did not see the comprehensive recovery expected in the second-half peak season, with overall shipment levels retracing to the low range of late 2022. Observing key details, this data reflects an extreme phenomenon of "divergence between volume and price." Although market attention is focused on high-priced AI servers, their share of overall shipment "volume" remains low; conversely, general-purpose servers, which account for a very high proportion, are facing significant headwinds. Data shows that shipment momentum for the full year of 2025 presented a "start high, go low" trend, correcting from 300K in Q1 to 270K in Q3, indicating that corporate IT budgets have been crowded out by AI hardware, significantly reducing the willingness to replace traditional servers. Regarding this decline, market analysis points to multiple causes. First, research from institutions such as DIGITIMES and TrendForce indicates that uncertainty surrounding the new round of U.S. chip export controls and tariff policies caused the supply chain to turn conservative in Q3. Second, Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) have concentrated their capital expenditure on expensive AI infrastructure, leading to the crowding out of general-purpose server procurement. In addition, some enterprises have postponed procurement plans while waiting for the volume ramp-up of next-generation platforms in 2026 (such as NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra or Rubin), causing short-term shipment momentum to stall. Looking ahead, in the short term (1-2 months), the market will remain in a transition period of inventory adjustment and specification migration. Although Q4 has traditional seasonal support, the probability of a significant rebound is not high, and attention must be paid to persistent geopolitical disruptions to the supply chain. In the medium term (3-6 months), with the introduction of new platforms in 2026 and the volume ramp-up of ASIC projects, shipment volumes are expected to regain growth momentum in the first half of next year. However, investors should focus more on the optimization of "revenue" and "profit" structures rather than a mere recovery in total volume. https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQFGjn980YiV0bnLslrOdObOywwObHYNUPqDxSVe6_n8Xkywxh4FKnNsnnu5jZNelAhDAKIE0WJXK9WeMnvuBv4uxufYnHV_MI7Ck1BsqRdu3s4-ME7haQT2cv6Mchfu3ZH1MyostGwtTpKTHlQkAZcpxNTcDFte https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQEn-RUT7I6jA8QLGWhNHO7c1bnKwxR6LdrWoTunnIhD0XF6fFQlLHV1334C5ZGuoSaDE3NgxSdn_lEGDITsb8qTRBtccrNC0MNe-0m3WIsvfBvQnKAhsQQqOTvG5hK6ioajVPtPPOLubquANb3l2Hmb1shwaxp854syzAokVOi9lnJzfLnQ https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQE5wp847PlHu3jFdjWkRtjC-LZ6XJviQ46ZgSGcDEY24zyx84DEb_B0lNWBc1PGNwthHWptsWT0oQ9lnu3oYkCbOtZ2Eq_0IasEKQBIdiiPrqzup1h4hHGpKXOTPv2-yYQ3gZ3zJkMSMUD03BgF4yJA0wKD1DqG