Global AI Data Center Power Supply Unit (PSU) Market Size, Share, Trends and Forecasts 2031

Key Findings

• The AI data center power supply unit (PSU) market focuses on high-efficiency, high-power-density AC/DC and DC/DC conversion systems tailored for GPU/accelerator racks, liquid-cooled trays, and modular power shelves.

• Rapid scale-out of AI clusters and training farms is shifting PSU designs toward 3–5 kW+ hot-swappable bricks, 48 V rack backbones, and server-level VRM optimization for accelerator cards.

• Efficiency tiers are converging around 80 PLUS Titanium/Platinum and >97% peak rectification, with growing emphasis on wide-bandgap devices for lower switching loss.

• Liquid and hybrid cooling topologies are moving from pilots to mainstream, requiring PSUs with coolant-safe materials, derating-aware controls, and tighter thermal telemetry.

• Power architectures are standardizing on 48 V distribution and busbar delivery to cut copper mass and ohmic loss versus legacy 12 V systems.

• Energy price volatility and sustainability mandates are making PSU telemetry, orchestration hooks, and grid-interactive features central to TCO optimization.

• Hyperscalers are driving open-frame and OCP-aligned designs, compressing qualification cycles and pushing vendor interoperability.

• Brownfield retrofit demand is rising as operators up-convert legacy halls for high-density AI loads without total rebuilds.

• Supply-chain resilience and second-source parity on magnetic components and WBG devices are becoming bid prerequisites.

• Integrated safety, cybersecurity, and predictive health—spanning firmware signing, attestation, and component aging models—now differentiate premium PSU portfolios.

AI Data Center Power Supply Unit (PSU) Market Size and Forecast

The global AI data center PSU market was valued at USD 7.4 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 21.8 billion by 2031, registering a CAGR of 16.3%.

Growth is propelled by surging AI compute density per rack, migration to 48 V distribution, and rapid adoption of liquid cooling that raises per-rack power envelopes. Vendors are scaling 3–18 kW shelf capacities with parallel redundancy and digital control loops to maintain stability under bursty accelerator loads. Wide-bandgap (SiC/GaN) penetration is accelerating in PFC and primary stages to lift efficiency and shrink form factors. As operators pursue PUE/WUE reduction and carbon targets, PSU-level analytics and orchestration APIs are becoming standard bill-of-materials line items.

Market Overview

AI training and inference clusters impose highly dynamic load profiles, fast transients, and elevated rack densities that stress conventional power chains. Modern PSUs for AI are therefore designed around high-efficiency rectification, robust hold-up, fast transient response, and telemetry-rich digital controllers. Shelf-level power is aggregated into N+1 or N+N topologies with hot-swap capability, while rack distribution increasingly adopts 48 V busbars to minimize I²R losses.

Firmware-defined protections and cyber-hardening are required to guard against spoofing, brownouts, and malicious set-point tampering. Thermal designs span forced-air, cold-plate, and immersion-tolerant variants, each with distinct materials and derating curves. The ecosystem is converging on open mechanicals and pinouts to shorten qualification cycles across accelerators, baseboards, and power shelves.

Future Outlook

Next-generation AI halls will normalize >100 kW per rack envelopes and push PSU shelves beyond 20 kW with granular, software-directed droop control. Converters will increasingly employ SiC for high-power PFC and GaN for high-frequency LLC stages to raise efficiency and reduce magnetics volume. Expect deeper integration of PSU telemetry with cluster schedulers so jobs can align to power headroom, tariffs, and grid signals.

Firmware supply-chain security, remote attestation, and component aging models will move from optional to mandatory specs. Liquid and two-phase cooling compatibility will expand, demanding corrosion-aware designs and coolant-safe gasketing. Retrofit-friendly, OCP-aligned power shelves will proliferate to accelerate AI capacity without wholesale facility rebuilds.

AI Data Center PSU Market Trends

• Shift From 12 V To 48 V Rack Distribution
  Operators are migrating from 12 V to 48 V bus architectures to reduce conductor cross-section and ohmic losses at rising rack powers. The higher distribution voltage lowers current, enabling slimmer cables and busbars that improve airflow and serviceability. PSU shelves now commonly rectify to 48 V and feed board-level converters closer to the accelerators. This topology improves transient response by shortening the low-voltage path and reducing droop during burst loads. Qualification frameworks increasingly favor 48 V for both air- and liquid-cooled racks. The shift also simplifies future scaling as AI node power continues to rise.

• Adoption Of Wide-Bandgap Devices In Front Ends
  SiC diodes and MOSFETs are displacing silicon in PFC stages to lift efficiency at high line and high load. GaN switches are gaining share in high-frequency resonant converters, shrinking magnetics and improving power density. These devices reduce switching loss, enabling cooler operation and longer component life at the same output power. Vendors are pairing WBG hardware with digital control ICs to fine-tune dead-time and soft-switching windows. Thermal headroom gained from WBG lets designers meet Titanium-class efficiency without bulky heat sinks. Cost curves are improving as volumes climb, making WBG a mainstream choice.

• Liquid-Ready And Hybrid-Cooling PSU Designs
  AI racks increasingly rely on cold plates or immersion, pushing PSUs to operate in warmer aisles with constrained airflow. Manufacturers are qualifying components, conformal coatings, and seals for proximity to coolant loops. Control firmware now factors coolant temperatures and flow sensors into derating logic to maintain stability. Hybrid cooling blends modest airflow with conductive paths to heat spreaders and chassis mass. These approaches protect electrolytics and magnetics from thermal fatigue under continuous high load. Liquid-ready designs are becoming default for high-density AI deployments.

• Telemetry-Rich, Software-Orchestrated Power
  Digital PSUs expose granular metrics—efficiency maps, ripple, transient headroom, fan curves, and component health—over secure buses. Orchestration layers aggregate this data to shape job scheduling, cap peaks, and align consumption with tariff windows. Predictive maintenance flags capacitor ESR drift, fan wear, and solder joint fatigue before failures occur. APIs now integrate with BMS/DCIM, enabling coordinated responses to grid events or cooling excursions. This data-centric approach turns power from a static asset into a controllable service. The result is higher uptime, tighter SLAs, and lower TCO.

• Open Standards And OCP-Aligned Mechanicals
  Hyperscalers are pushing open mechanical envelopes and electrical pinouts for shelves and bricks to foster multi-vendor sourcing. Commonality accelerates qualification, eases spares logistics, and reduces lock-in risk. Vendors compete on efficiency, telemetry features, and thermal performance rather than bespoke form factors. Open test suites and interop events are shortening time-to-ramp for new platforms. The approach also supports retrofit into legacy racks with adapter kits. Openness is reshaping procurement and widening the supplier pool.

• Integrated Security And Firmware Integrity
  PSU controllers are now provisioned with secure boot, signed updates, and hardware roots of trust. Runtime attestation prevents rollback and blocks tampered firmware from energizing critical rails. Networked shelves employ authenticated, role-based control to limit set-point abuse. Event logs are cryptographically anchored to support forensic analysis after incidents. Security reviews increasingly span supply-chain provenance for controllers and memory. These measures harden a once-ignored attack surface in power infrastructure.

Market Growth Drivers

• Explosive Growth In AI Compute Density Per Rack
  Training clusters pack more accelerators per chassis, driving continuous growth in rack-level power envelopes. Higher density requires PSUs with greater power ratings, tighter regulation, and faster transient response. As compute scales, redundancy schemes must preserve uptime without massive efficiency penalties. These demands expand both unit volumes and average selling prices across shelves and bricks. Facilities that modernize for AI intensify procurement of advanced PSUs. The density trend therefore underpins sustained market expansion through the forecast period.

• Migration To 48 V Distribution And Busbar Delivery
  The industry’s pivot to 48 V reduces distribution losses and copper mass, unlocking efficiency at scale. Transitioning architectures triggers broad refresh cycles across shelves, cabling, and board converters. Each refresh invites PSU upgrades that meet new thermal and electrical constraints. Operators gain measurable TCO savings from reduced I²R loss and simplified harnessing. Those economics flow directly into stronger PSU demand. The migration acts as both a performance enabler and a replacement catalyst.

• Wide-Bandgap Adoption Improving Efficiency And Density
  SiC and GaN reduce switching and conduction losses, allowing higher frequency operation and smaller magnetics. Better efficiency eases cooling requirements and enables denser rack layouts. Lower losses also align with sustainability targets and energy-cost reduction mandates. As WBG costs fall, adoption spreads from hyperscalers to colocation providers. Each step broadens the addressable market for premium PSUs. Efficiency gains translate into compelling, quantifiable ROI for buyers.

• Rise Of Liquid Cooling And Thermal Constraints
  Liquid cooling lets operators deploy higher TDP accelerators but shifts thermal burdens onto supporting PSUs. Purpose-built units with coolant-aware derating and ruggedized materials become mandatory at scale. Retrofits drive immediate PSU purchasing even in existing halls. The interplay of cooling advancements and power delivery boosts shelf refresh cadence. Vendors that solve thermal reliability earn design wins across entire campuses. Thermal realities thereby directly stimulate PSU innovation and sales.

• Sustainability, Carbon Accounting, And Energy Volatility
  Energy costs and carbon disclosures push operators to squeeze every basis point of efficiency. Telemetry-rich PSUs enable continuous optimization and verifiable reporting against ESG targets. Grid-interactive features support demand response and tariff-aware scheduling. These capabilities create procurement preferences for premium, instrumented power shelves. As regulations tighten, compliance becomes a buying criterion rather than a nice-to-have. Sustainability pressures thus elevate PSU feature sets and market value.

• Standardization And Open Ecosystems Shortening Time-To-Adopt
  OCP-aligned specs and shared qualification artifacts compress deployment timelines. Interoperability reduces the risk of single-vendor lock-in and accelerates multi-source strategies. Faster ramps translate into earlier and larger purchase orders for PSU vendors. Open ecosystems also simplify brownfield retrofits that make AI expansions feasible. The cycle of specification, adoption, and replication strengthens demand predictability. Standardization acts as a force multiplier for market growth.

Challenges in the Market

• Thermal Reliability At Ever-Higher Power Densities
  Elevated inlet temperatures and constrained airflow stress electrolytics, magnetics, and semiconductors. Designers must balance miniaturization with lifetime under continuous high load. Liquid-proximate environments add corrosion and condensation risks that complicate materials choices. Predictive models must accurately capture aging to avoid unexpected derating. Qualification cycles lengthen as operators test across broader thermal corners. Managing reliability without oversizing remains a core engineering challenge.

• Supply-Chain Fragility For Magnetics And WBG Devices
  Custom magnetics and wide-bandgap components face periodic lead-time spikes. Second-sourcing is difficult where tooling and IP are vendor-specific. Geopolitical frictions can disrupt wafer starts and logistics for critical parts. Vendors must hold buffer inventory, raising working capital needs. Qualification of alternates is time-consuming and test-intensive. These factors inject volatility into cost and delivery commitments.

• Firmware Security And Lifecycle Management Complexity
  Networked PSUs expand the attack surface within critical infrastructure. Maintaining secure boot chains and timely patching across fleets strains operations. Backward compatibility and rollback prevention must coexist with rapid feature delivery. Credential management and auditability add process overhead. Any breach risks service disruption and reputational damage. Security rigor is essential but increases development and support costs.

• Interoperability Across Open Yet Evolving Standards
  While openness aids adoption, evolving pinouts and management schemas can cause mismatches. Multi-vendor racks reveal edge-case incompatibilities in telemetry and control. Operators need extensive validation to ensure stable mixed environments. Vendors must support multiple dialects of “open” in parallel. This complexity can dilute engineering focus and elongate launches. Interop friction remains a persistent barrier in real deployments.

• Capex Pressures And ROI Scrutiny Amid Rate Volatility
  High interest rates and power price swings intensify payback scrutiny for premium PSUs. Buyers may defer upgrades despite clear efficiency gains when budgets tighten. Vendors must quantify TCO with credible field data to win approvals. Financing constructs and service models become part of the sales toolkit. Without clear ROI narratives, deals stall at procurement gates. Macroeconomic cycles therefore modulate adoption velocity.

• Regulatory And Safety Compliance Across Jurisdictions
  Certifications span electrical, thermal, EMI, safety, and environmental domains with regional nuances. Liquid-adjacent deployments add materials and leakage compliance hurdles. Documentation, factory audits, and ongoing surveillance raise overhead. Updating product lines to meet new rules can strand inventory. Global rollouts face sequencing constraints tied to test lab capacity. Compliance is mandatory but slows iteration and increases cost.

AI Data Center PSU Market Segmentation

By Power Rating

• Up to 3 kW

• 3–6 kW

• 6–12 kW

• Above 12 kW

By Input & Distribution Architecture

• 230/240 V AC Single-Phase

• 208/415 V AC Three-Phase

• 48 V DC Rack Distribution

• 12 V DC Rack Distribution

By Cooling Method

• Air-Cooled

• Liquid-Ready / Cold-Plate Compatible

• Immersion-Tolerant Components

By Component

• Rectifier / PFC Stage

• DC/DC Conversion Module

• Control & Telemetry (Digital Controller, Firmware)

• Mechanical & Thermal (Chassis, Fans, Heat Spreaders)

By End User

• Hyperscale Cloud Providers

• Colocation & Wholesale Data Centers

• Enterprise & HPC Facilities

• AI Startups / Dedicated Training Labs

By Region

• North America

• Europe

• Asia-Pacific

• Latin America

• Middle East & Africa

Leading Key Players

• Delta Electronics, Inc.

• Bel Power Solutions (Bel Fuse)

• Lite-On Technology Corporation

• Flex Ltd. (Flex Power Modules)

• Advanced Energy Industries, Inc.

• Artesyn Embedded Power (Advanced Energy)

• Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

• TDK-Lambda Corporation

• Zippy Technology Corp.

• Vicor Corporation

Recent Developments

• Delta Electronics introduced a 6–12 kW 48 V Titanium-class PSU shelf with enhanced digital telemetry and liquid-ready options.

• Vicor expanded high-current 48 V-to-point-of-load modules enabling shorter low-voltage distribution paths to GPUs.

• Bel Power Solutions released GaN-based front-end units achieving higher switching frequency and reduced magnetics mass.

• Advanced Energy launched cold-plate compatible PSU bricks with coolant-aware derating models embedded in firmware.

• TDK-Lambda added secure-boot and signed-firmware workflows across its data-center portfolio to harden against cyber threats.

This Market Report Will Answer the Following Questions

• What are the projected market size and CAGR for AI data center PSUs through 2031?

• How will 48 V distribution and WBG adoption reshape rack-level power architectures?

• Which cooling pathways most effectively support sustained high-density AI loads?

• What telemetry and orchestration capabilities deliver measurable TCO gains?

• How should buyers evaluate security, firmware lifecycle, and supply-chain resilience in PSU RFPs?

• Which segments (power ratings, cooling, user types) will expand fastest as AI campuses scale?

• How do open standards influence multi-vendor sourcing and retrofit velocity?

• What compliance and safety considerations apply to liquid-adjacent PSU deployments?

• How can operators quantify ROI for premium efficiency PSUs amid energy volatility?

• Which vendors are best positioned to win hyperscale design-ins over the next product cycle?