During a press conference following Hon Hai Tech Day, Chairman Young Liu of Hon Hai Precision Industry (2317.TW) outlined a way to separate genuine industry concerns about an AI bubble from speculative market worries. He argued that the concepts of an industry bubble and a stock‑market bubble are distinct and should not be conflated.
He pointed out that the technology sector and capital markets have fundamentally different perspectives on AI’s future. While industry participants largely see no bubble forming, investors are focused on whether AI‑related share prices have become overinflated. In his view, the concern lies in valuation rather than in actual demand for AI products and services.
Citing the internet’s evolution, Liu warned that while internet‑related equities collapsed in the early 2000s, the underlying industry survived and later spawned today’s tech titans. He sees a parallel for AI, predicting it will become a foundational technology for both consumers and enterprises. “Who doesn’t use AI now? Probably no one,” he remarked, emphasizing that genuine demand in the AI sector is robust and sizable.
He dismissed recent institutional chatter about an AI supply‑chain ‘shortage,’ arguing that the underlying production capacity has not been insufficient. Instead, he said, market demand now outpaces supply, which he views as a positive indicator of strong AI adoption.
Liu segmented AI demand into four key groups: model developers, cloud service providers, government agencies, and enterprises across all sectors. At present, the bulk of demand is coming from the first two groups, while government and enterprise adoption is still nascent. He noted that most public‑sector and corporate entities now recognize the need to integrate AI, but are still determining the best implementation strategies. He expects a substantial uplift in overall market size once this later segment accelerates.
Consequently, Liu concluded that from the standpoint of real‑world AI applications, the notion of an AI bubble is unfounded. As for whether AI‑related equities are overvalued, he left that assessment to capital‑market professionals.
Regarding Hon Hai’s performance, Liu projected double‑digit growth for the upcoming year and described the company’s trajectory as K‑shaped, with AI‑related businesses forming the upward branch while other divisions continue on a separate growth path. He declined to provide detailed financial figures.
Analysts noted that Liu’s comments help dispel uncertainty about the authenticity of AI demand, but they emphasized that valuation concerns remain a distinct issue for investors, with short‑term share performance still swayed by liquidity and market sentiment. From a supply‑chain perspective, continued demand‑supply imbalance is expected to sustain shipment growth for assemblers, server manufacturers, and component suppliers, although shifts in capex pacing and order visibility warrant close monitoring.
Hon Hai Tech Day serves as the company’s flagship annual gathering. In recent years, the event has increasingly highlighted Hon Hai’s expanding AI‑server business, offering external stakeholders a view of its AI deployments and order pipeline. This year’s focus has shifted markedly from earlier electric‑vehicle topics to AI infrastructure and the broader computing‑power supply chain.
