[SMM Computing Power Express] Two buyers each seek 128 H100 units; suppliers question authenticity

July 13: About 20 near-spot units of high-end computing power sold out within two to three days; China data centers dismantling H100s to upgrade high-end computing power boosted secondary distribution supply; another high-end eight-card server’s per-unit price rose from about 9 million to about 13 million, with incoming stock absorbed within no more than a week; transactions were dominated by trust rather than going to the highest bidder, and intermediaries commonly added layer-upon-layer markups.

SMM has learned that a dealer disclosed that the current price per unit of a high-end computing eight-card server has risen from about 9 million yuan to approximately 13 million yuan, an increase of over 44%. High-end computing power can be absorbed within a week of arrival, and three to four prospective buyers negotiate price and contract details, with delivery going to whoever signs the contract and has funds ready first. The dealer stated that high-end computing transactions are dominated by trust relationships rather than simply going to the highest bidder; buyers must first agree to the quotation before inspecting the goods. The practice of intermediaries adding layers of price markups is common, and it is not uncommon for a purchase at 9 million yuan to be resold through multiple hands to 13 million yuan.

SMM learned that a GPU cloud service provider disclosed on July 10 that the monthly rental quote for bare-metal H100 servers was within 80,000 yuan, with actual on-cloud transaction prices ranging from 75,000 to 83,000 yuan per month. Due to the premium for cloud services, these prices were higher than those of closed long-term agreements. Regarding the market, the provider noted that the market price for the 4090 was around 8,000 yuan per month, the 5090 was quoted at 12,000 yuan per month, and the highest quotes for the 5090 reached 13,000-14,000 yuan. Meanwhile, the source explicitly denied any off-season in the market, stating, "There has been consistent demand, and supply is relatively tight." On the high-end computing power side, the service provider stated they did not engage in this segment and described relevant market quotes as "essentially fake." Domestic Huawei Ascend computing power has not yet been launched but is planned for future introduction. The source also pointed out that domestically produced graphics cards have no hardware issues, but optimization still requires the work of engineers. SMM also learned that DeepSeek spent all of last year on adapting domestically produced graphics cards.