[SMM Computing Power Midday Review] Indices traded flat across the board, 5090 rose at home and abroad, Pro 6000 pricing in a tug-of-war

[Market Overview] The SMM computing power rental price index remained flat overall today, with all 19 index quotes unchanged from the previous day. While the index stayed calm, signals in the consumer-grade and professional card hardware markets were active: 5090 prices rose at home and abroad in tandem, with the market bullish on the outlook, while the Pro 6000 was caught in a supply-demand pricing tug-of-war, with clear divergence between the two ends.

[5090: Synchronized Rise at Home and Abroad, Supply-Side Driven] SMM learned that from September 1 to 4, the dollar quote for a single 5090 card rose from $5,350 to $5,600, an increase of $250 over four days, or 4.7%, with market expectations pointing to a further rise to $6,000 per card, leaving about 7.1% upside from current levels. During the same period, the yuan-denominated channel also moved up in tandem, with the South China turbo version rising from 40,800 yuan per card in mid-August to 43,500 yuan per card, up 6.6%. The two currency channels posted similar gains in the same direction, indicating that this round of price increases was driven mainly by supply-side factors rather than regional arbitrage, and the tight supply of high-end consumer-grade spot cards persisted.

[Pro 6000: Widening Supply-Demand Divergence, Price Discovery in a Tug-of-War] Lessors in east China reported that Pro 6000 prices on the supply and demand sides were severely mismatched—buyers were bidding low while holders were asking high, making deals harder to close. The model was previously quoted for rental at 35,000–37,000 yuan per unit per month, and demand-side acceptance was clearly insufficient; the monthly rental spread versus the 5090 generally exceeded 18,000 yuan. The Pro 6000's core advantage lies in its large GDDR7 memory, which can support inference for larger-parameter models, but this memory advantage has yet to translate into cost-effectiveness recognized by lessees. The price discovery process remains in a tug-of-war, and a near-term ramp-up in volume will be difficult.

[SMM View] Today's consumer-grade segment sent two signals in opposite directions but with the same underlying logic. First, the synchronized price increase of the 5090 at home and abroad, along with bullish expectations, confirms that the tight spot supply is supply-side driven, and rising hardware procurement costs may gradually pass through to the rental side. Second, the Pro 6000 tug-of-war shows that the premium for large-memory models needs to be validated by actual inference scenarios, and buyers have a clear boundary for their tolerance of price spreads. SMM believes that if the 5090's uptrend continues, the narrowing spread between it and the Pro 6000 could actually open up demand space for the latter, and the pricing linkage between the two models warrants continued monitoring.