AAC Technologies signs liquid cooling ecosystem partnership with Intel

On September 23, at the Intel Technology Innovation Conference, AAC Technologies signed a cooperation agreement with Intel, officially establishing a liquid cooling ecosystem partnership.

(Richard Mok, Executive Director of AAC Technologies, and Bao Li Chen, Vice President of Intel's Data Center Group and General Manager of Intel China, signed the agreement.)

The collaboration covers a comprehensive range of components, including:

• CPU cold plates
• Memory and SSD liquid cooling modules
• UQD/Quick Disconnect (QD) connectors
• Manifolds
• CDU (Coolant Distribution Units)
• Full rack-level and node-level liquid cooling solutions

Key Components Explained

• CPU Cold Plate: A dedicated "water-cooling patch" for AI chips, designed to rapidly dissipate heat from high-power AI processors.
• CDU (Coolant Distribution Unit): The central hub of the entire liquid cooling system, functioning as the "pump room" of a data center, responsible for overall water circulation and temperature control.
• UQD Connectors and Manifolds: Precision components that form the leak-proof structure and fluid pathways of the system, effectively mitigating leakage risks and ensuring long-term, stable operation.

AAC Technologies' Market Position

The full coverage of core hardware underscores Intel's strong recognition of AAC Technologies' full-stack liquid cooling capabilities. AAC is already a global leader in thermal management:

• In consumer electronics, its VC (Vapor Chamber) heat spreaders have long held a top-tier global position.
• 2025 thermal management revenue reached RMB 1.67 billion, a year-on-year increase of 410.9%.
• In the first half of 2026, revenue reached RMB 1.1 billion, surging 400% year-on-year.

Apple's iPhone 17 Pro series adopted VC heat spreaders for the first time, with AAC as the supplier. In October 2025, Apple COO Sabih Khan visited China specifically to tour AAC's Changzhou production facility. During the 2026 Chain Expo, Apple again invited AAC to co-exhibit—a level of recognition rarely seen among Apple's global supply chain partners.

Expansion into Liquid Cooling for Computing

Following its acquisition of Yuandi Technology, AAC successfully transitioned from consumer electronics thermal management to the server liquid cooling赛道, filling a critical gap in its computing thermal management capabilities:

• Its 2.2MW and 2.6MW high-capacity CDU products have entered mass production.
• Monthly production capacity is stable at over 600 units.
• Global批量 delivery is now underway.

According to the company's management guidance, the target revenue for liquid cooling in 2026 is approximately RMB 200 million, with a potential to reach RMB 1 billion in 2027.

AAC's liquid cooling business has already ranked among the top three in China's AI server liquid cooling market.

Strategic Value of the Intel Partnership

The agreement with Intel reflects AAC's long-term ambitions, with value concentrated in three core dimensions:

1. Unique Ecosystem Positioning with Full-Chain Delivery Capability

Unlike competitors that control only a single link in the chain, AAC possesses a rare full-stack capability—designing and manufacturing all core hardware (cold plates, connectors, manifolds, CDUs) in-house. This positions AAC as a system-level solution provider. For downstream system integrators, this eliminates the need to coordinate multiple suppliers, reducing common industry issues and significantly lowering project deployment and maintenance costs.

2. Platform-Level Certification Under Intel's Unified Technical Standards

All testing specifications and reliability standards follow Intel's unified technical framework, creating a core competitive advantage for expanding into overseas ODM and global computing projects. For server OEMs and major cloud providers, hardware jointly validated on Intel's platform can significantly shorten testing cycles and reduce validation costs, boosting AAC's competitiveness in global project bidding.

3. Access to Top-Tier Ecosystem Resources

The global liquid cooling data center market is entering a phase of rapid expansion:

• China's liquid cooling data center market is expected to exceed RMB 23 billion in 2026.
• The global market is projected to surpass RMB 110 billion.
• Intel Xeon-based servers account for over half of China's overall server market.

By entering Intel's ecosystem supplier candidate pool, AAC is well-positioned to rapidly generate new revenue at scale. Additionally, the company can follow Intel's global expansion to support international computing projects, further raising its growth ceiling.

Broader Business Transformation

Market perception of AAC has traditionally focused on consumer electronics hardware. In recent years, the company has accelerated its strategic upgrade toward becoming an AI perception infrastructure provider, building a dual-track business structure spanning computing infrastructure and consumer terminals.

Currently, AI-related businesses—including thermal management, high-speed optical communications, and humanoid robots—along with new segments such as XR optics and automotive acoustics, have become core revenue growth drivers. According to the company's plan, total revenue from new businesses is expected to reach RMB 8–9 billion by 2027, providing sustained, long-term growth.

Server liquid cooling is a key component of the computing-side new business. The ecosystem partnership with Intel marks another milestone in AAC's cross-sector application of its precision manufacturing capabilities. From this perspective, the deeper business transformation underway at AAC may hold greater long-term research value than the single headline of "partnering with Intel."