Why Uncertainty Won't Slow AI Hardware Investment

不确定性不会减缓人工智能硬件的投资

Thoughts on the Market

商务

2025-03-11

4 分钟
PDF

单集简介 ...

Our Head of U.S. IT Hardware Erik Woodring gives his key takeaways from Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT) conference, including why there appears to be a long runway ahead for AI infrastructure spending, despite macro uncertainty.
更多

单集文稿 ...

  • Welcome to Thoughts on the Market.

  • I'm Eric Woodring, Morgan Stanley's head of USIT hardware research.

  • Here are some reflections I recorded last week at Morgan Stanley's Technology,

  • Media and Telecom Conference in San Francisco.

  • It's Monday, March 10th at 9 a.m. in New York.

  • This was another record year of attendance at our TMT conference,

  • and what is clear from speaking to investors is that the demand for new,

  • under-discovered, or under-appreciated ideas is higher than ever.

  • In a stock picker's market, like the one we have now, investors are really digging into themes and single-name ideas.

  • Big picture, uncertainty was a key theme this week.

  • Whether it's tariffs and the changing geopolitical landscape, market volatility,

  • or government spending, the level of relative uncertainty is elevated.

  • That said, we are not hearing about a material change in demand for PCs, smartphones, and other technology hardware.

  • On the enterprise side of my coverage,

  • we are emerging from one of the most prolonged down cycles in the last 10-plus years,

  • and what we heard from several enterprise hardware vendors this week is an expectation

  • that most enterprise hardware markets,

  • PCs, servers, and storage return to growth this year given pent-up refresh demand.

  • This, despite the challenges of navigating the tariff situation,

  • which is resulting in most companies raising prices to mitigate higher input costs.