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DeepSeek R1's Implications: Winners and Losers in the Generative AI Value Chain

by Ruthie Cochran (2025-02-09)

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R1 is mainly open, on par with leading proprietary designs, appears to have actually been trained at considerably lower expense, and is less expensive to use in terms of API gain access to, all of which point to a development that may alter competitive dynamics in the field of Generative AI.
- IoT Analytics sees end users and AI applications service providers as the biggest winners of these current advancements, while exclusive design service providers stand to lose the most, based upon worth chain analysis from the Generative AI Market Report 2025-2030 (published January 2025).


Why it matters


For suppliers to the generative AI worth chain: Players along the (generative) AI worth chain may need to re-assess their worth propositions and align to a possible reality of low-cost, light-weight, open-weight designs.
For generative AI adopters: DeepSeek R1 and other frontier designs that may follow present lower-cost options for AI adoption.


Background: DeepSeek's R1 model rattles the markets


DeepSeek's R1 model rocked the stock exchange. On January 23, 2025, China-based AI startup DeepSeek released its open-source R1 thinking generative AI (GenAI) model. News about R1 quickly spread, and by the start of stock trading on January 27, 2025, the marketplace cap for numerous significant technology companies with big AI footprints had actually fallen significantly ever since:


NVIDIA, a US-based chip designer and developer most understood for its information center GPUs, dropped 18% in between the marketplace close on January 24 and the market close on February 3.
Microsoft, the leading hyperscaler in the cloud AI race with its Azure cloud services, dropped 7.5% (Jan 24-Feb 3).
Broadcom, a semiconductor business focusing on networking, broadband, and customized ASICs, dropped 11% (Jan 24-Feb 3).
Siemens Energy, a German energy innovation vendor that supplies energy services for information center operators, dropped 17.8% (Jan 24-Feb 3).


Market individuals, and specifically investors, reacted to the narrative that the model that DeepSeek released is on par with cutting-edge designs, was supposedly trained on only a couple of countless GPUs, and is open source. However, because that preliminary sell-off, reports and analysis shed some light on the initial hype.


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Download a sample for more information about the report structure, select definitions, select market information, extra information points, and trends.


DeepSeek R1: What do we understand up until now?


DeepSeek R1 is an affordable, innovative thinking model that equals leading competitors while cultivating openness through openly available weights.


DeepSeek R1 is on par with leading thinking designs. The largest DeepSeek R1 model (with 685 billion parameters) performance is on par or perhaps better than some of the leading models by US foundation model suppliers. Benchmarks reveal that DeepSeek's R1 model performs on par or better than leading, more familiar models like OpenAI's o1 and Anthropic's Claude 3.5 Sonnet.
DeepSeek was trained at a significantly lower cost-but not to the degree that initial news suggested. Initial reports showed that the training expenses were over $5.5 million, but the real worth of not just training however establishing the model overall has been discussed considering that its release. According to semiconductor research study and consulting firm SemiAnalysis, the $5.5 million figure is only one component of the costs, excluding hardware costs, the salaries of the research study and advancement group, and other factors.
DeepSeek's API rates is over 90% cheaper than OpenAI's. No matter the real expense to develop the design, DeepSeek is using a more affordable proposition for utilizing its API: input and output tokens for DeepSeek R1 cost $0.55 per million and $2.19 per million, respectively, compared to OpenAI's $15 per million and $60 per million for its o1 design.
DeepSeek R1 is an innovative design. The associated scientific paper launched by DeepSeekshows the methodologies utilized to establish R1 based on V3: leveraging the mixture of professionals (MoE) architecture, support learning, and very innovative hardware optimization to develop models requiring less resources to train and also less resources to carry out AI inference, resulting in its aforementioned API use expenses.
DeepSeek is more open than most of its rivals. DeepSeek R1 is available free of charge on platforms like HuggingFace or GitHub. While DeepSeek has made its weights available and provided its training methods in its research paper, the initial training code and data have not been made available for a competent individual to develop a comparable model, consider specifying an open-source AI system according to the Open Source Initiative (OSI). Though DeepSeek has been more open than other GenAI companies, R1 remains in the open-weight classification when considering OSI standards. However, the release triggered interest outdoors source neighborhood: Hugging Face has actually launched an Open-R1 effort on Github to develop a complete recreation of R1 by building the "missing pieces of the R1 pipeline," moving the design to fully open source so anybody can replicate and build on top of it.
DeepSeek launched powerful little models alongside the major R1 release. DeepSeek launched not only the major large model with more than 680 billion specifications but also-as of this article-6 distilled designs of DeepSeek R1. The designs vary from 70B to 1.5 B, the latter fitting on many consumer-grade hardware. Since February 3, 2025, the models were downloaded more than 1 million times on HuggingFace alone.
DeepSeek R1 was potentially trained on OpenAI's information. On January 29, 2025, reports shared that Microsoft is investigating whether DeepSeek utilized OpenAI's API to train its designs (an offense of OpenAI's regards to service)- though the hyperscaler likewise included R1 to its Azure AI Foundry service.

Understanding the generative AI worth chain

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GenAI costs advantages a broad market value chain. The graphic above, based on research study for IoT Analytics' Generative AI Market Report 2025-2030 (launched January 2025), depicts key beneficiaries of GenAI spending across the worth chain. Companies along the worth chain consist of:


The end users - End users consist of customers and companies that use a Generative AI application.
GenAI applications - Software vendors that consist of GenAI features in their products or deal standalone GenAI software application. This consists of business software application companies like Salesforce, with its concentrate on Agentic AI, and startups specifically focusing on GenAI applications like Perplexity or Lovable.
Tier 1 beneficiaries - Providers of structure models (e.g., OpenAI or Anthropic), design management platforms (e.g., AWS Sagemaker, Google Vertex or Microsoft Azure AI), information management tools (e.g., MongoDB or Snowflake), cloud computing and data center operations (e.g., Azure, AWS, Equinix or Digital Realty), AI specialists and combination services (e.g., Accenture or Capgemini), and edge computing (e.g., Advantech or HPE).
Tier 2 recipients - Those whose products and services routinely support tier 1 services, consisting of companies of chips (e.g., NVIDIA or AMD), network and server equipment (e.g., Arista Networks, Huawei or Belden), server cooling innovations (e.g., Vertiv or ai-db.science Schneider Electric).
Tier 3 beneficiaries - Those whose product or services frequently support tier 2 services, such as suppliers of electronic style automation software providers for chip design (e.g., Cadence or Synopsis), semiconductor fabrication (e.g., TSMC), heat exchangers for cooling innovations, and electric grid technology (e.g., Siemens Energy or ABB).
Tier 4 recipients and beyond - Companies that continue to support the tier above them, such as lithography systems (tier-4) necessary for semiconductor fabrication machines (e.g., AMSL) or companies that provide these providers (tier-5) with lithography optics (e.g., Zeiss).


Winners and losers along the generative AI worth chain


The rise of designs like DeepSeek R1 signals a possible shift in the generative AI worth chain, challenging existing market characteristics and reshaping expectations for profitability and competitive benefit. If more models with comparable abilities emerge, certain players may benefit while others face increasing pressure.


Below, IoT Analytics assesses the key winners and most likely losers based on the innovations presented by DeepSeek R1 and the wider pattern toward open, affordable models. This assessment thinks about the prospective long-lasting effect of such designs on the worth chain instead of the instant impacts of R1 alone.


Clear winners

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End users


Why these innovations are positive: The availability of more and less expensive models will ultimately reduce expenses for the end-users and make AI more available.
Why these developments are unfavorable: No clear argument.
Our take: DeepSeek represents AI innovation that eventually benefits the end users of this innovation.


GenAI application suppliers


Why these developments are favorable: Startups constructing applications on top of structure designs will have more choices to select from as more models come online. As stated above, chessdatabase.science DeepSeek R1 is by far more affordable than OpenAI's o1 model, and though reasoning models are rarely utilized in an application context, it reveals that continuous developments and development enhance the designs and make them more affordable.
Why these innovations are negative: No clear argument.
Our take: disgaeawiki.info The availability of more and less expensive models will eventually reduce the expense of including GenAI functions in applications.


Likely winners


Edge AI/edge computing companies


Why these developments are positive: During Microsoft's recent earnings call, Satya Nadella explained that "AI will be much more common," as more workloads will run in your area. The distilled smaller designs that DeepSeek released alongside the powerful R1 design are small sufficient to operate on many edge gadgets. While little, the 1.5 B, 7B, and 14B models are likewise comparably effective reasoning designs. They can fit on a laptop computer and other less powerful devices, e.g., IPCs and commercial entrances. These distilled designs have actually already been downloaded from Hugging Face numerous countless times.
Why these innovations are unfavorable: No clear argument.
Our take: The distilled models of DeepSeek R1 that fit on less effective hardware (70B and listed below) were downloaded more than 1 million times on HuggingFace alone. This shows a strong interest in releasing designs in your area. Edge computing manufacturers with edge AI services like Italy-based Eurotech, and Taiwan-based Advantech will stand to earnings. Chip business that specialize in edge computing chips such as AMD, ARM, Qualcomm, or even Intel, might likewise benefit. Nvidia also operates in this market segment.


Note: IoT Analytics' SPS 2024 Event Report (published in January 2025) looks into the latest commercial edge AI patterns, as seen at the SPS 2024 fair in Nuremberg, Germany.


Data management providers


Why these developments are favorable: There is no AI without information. To establish applications using open models, adopters will need a plethora of information for training and during release, needing appropriate information management.
Why these innovations are unfavorable: No clear argument.
Our take: Data management is getting more vital as the number of different AI models boosts. Data management business like MongoDB, Databricks and Snowflake as well as the particular offerings from hyperscalers will stand to earnings.


GenAI companies


Why these developments are positive: The sudden emergence of DeepSeek as a top gamer in the (western) AI ecosystem reveals that the intricacy of GenAI will likely grow for some time. The greater availability of various designs can lead to more complexity, driving more need for services.
Why these developments are unfavorable: When leading designs like DeepSeek R1 are available for complimentary, the ease of experimentation and implementation might limit the need for combination services.
Our take: As new innovations pertain to the marketplace, GenAI services demand increases as business attempt to understand how to best make use of open designs for their organization.


Neutral


Cloud computing suppliers


Why these developments are positive: Cloud gamers hurried to include DeepSeek R1 in their design management platforms. Microsoft included it in their Azure AI Foundry, and AWS enabled it in Amazon Bedrock and Amazon Sagemaker. While the hyperscalers invest heavily in OpenAI and Anthropic (respectively), they are also model agnostic and allow hundreds of various designs to be hosted natively in their design zoos. Training and fine-tuning will continue to take place in the cloud. However, as designs end up being more efficient, less investment (capital expense) will be required, which will increase revenue margins for hyperscalers.
Why these developments are unfavorable: More models are expected to be deployed at the edge as the edge ends up being more powerful and designs more efficient. Inference is likely to move towards the edge moving forward. The cost of training advanced models is also expected to go down further.
Our take: Smaller, more efficient models are becoming more crucial. This reduces the need for effective cloud computing both for training and reasoning which may be balanced out by higher overall demand and lower CAPEX requirements.


EDA Software suppliers

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Why these innovations are favorable: Demand for new AI chip designs will increase as AI work end up being more specialized. EDA tools will be crucial for designing effective, smaller-scale chips tailored for edge and dispersed AI inference
Why these innovations are negative: The move toward smaller sized, less resource-intensive models may lower the need for developing advanced, high-complexity chips optimized for huge data centers, potentially resulting in reduced licensing of EDA tools for high-performance GPUs and ASICs.
Our take: EDA software application service providers like Synopsys and Cadence might benefit in the long term as AI specialization grows and drives need for new chip designs for edge, consumer, and inexpensive AI workloads. However, the industry may require to adapt to shifting requirements, focusing less on big information center GPUs and more on smaller, efficient AI hardware.


Likely losers


AI chip business


Why these innovations are favorable: The presumably lower training expenses for models like DeepSeek R1 could ultimately increase the total need for AI chips. Some described the Jevson paradox, the concept that performance causes more demand for a resource. As the training and reasoning of AI designs become more effective, the demand might increase as higher performance leads to reduce costs. ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet shared a comparable line of thinking: "A lower cost of AI could suggest more applications, more applications means more demand over time. We see that as an opportunity for more chips demand."
Why these developments are unfavorable: The presumably lower costs for DeepSeek R1 are based mainly on the requirement for less innovative GPUs for training. That puts some doubt on the sustainability of massive projects (such as the recently announced Stargate project) and the capital expenditure spending of tech companies mainly allocated for buying AI chips.
Our take: IoT Analytics research for its latest Generative AI Market Report 2025-2030 (published January 2025) found that NVIDIA is leading the information center GPU market with a market share of 92%. NVIDIA's monopoly characterizes that market. However, that also demonstrates how highly NVIDA's faith is linked to the continuous growth of spending on data center GPUs. If less hardware is required to train and release designs, then this could seriously compromise NVIDIA's development story.


Other categories connected to data centers (Networking equipment, electrical grid innovations, electrical power suppliers, and heat exchangers)


Like AI chips, models are most likely to end up being more affordable to train and more effective to deploy, so the expectation for further information center infrastructure build-out (e.g., networking devices, cooling systems, and power supply options) would decrease accordingly. If fewer high-end GPUs are required, large-capacity information centers may downsize their investments in associated infrastructure, possibly affecting demand for supporting technologies. This would put pressure on companies that supply vital elements, most significantly networking hardware, power systems, and cooling solutions.


Clear losers


Proprietary design providers


Why these developments are favorable: No clear argument.
Why these innovations are negative: The GenAI business that have gathered billions of dollars of financing for their exclusive designs, such as OpenAI and Anthropic, stand to lose. Even if they develop and release more open designs, this would still cut into the revenue flow as it stands today. Further, while some framed DeepSeek as a "side project of some quants" (quantitative analysts), the release of DeepSeek's powerful V3 and then R1 designs proved far beyond that sentiment. The concern moving forward: What is the moat of proprietary design companies if cutting-edge designs like DeepSeek's are getting launched free of charge and end up being totally open and fine-tunable?
Our take: DeepSeek released effective models totally free (for regional implementation) or really inexpensive (their API is an order of magnitude more inexpensive than equivalent designs). Companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere will face increasingly strong competitors from gamers that release free and adjustable cutting-edge designs, like Meta and DeepSeek.


Analyst takeaway and outlook


The development of DeepSeek R1 enhances an essential pattern in the GenAI space: open-weight, cost-efficient models are ending up being practical rivals to exclusive alternatives. This shift challenges market presumptions and forces AI suppliers to reassess their worth propositions.


1. End users and GenAI application providers are the biggest winners.


Cheaper, premium designs like R1 lower AI adoption costs, benefiting both enterprises and customers. Startups such as Perplexity and Lovable, users.atw.hu which construct applications on structure designs, now have more options and can substantially decrease API expenses (e.g., R1's API is over 90% cheaper than OpenAI's o1 model).


2. Most experts agree the stock market overreacted, however the development is genuine.

The-Future-of-Artificial-Intelligence-in

While major AI stocks dropped sharply after R1's release (e.g., NVIDIA and Microsoft down 18% and 7.5%, respectively), numerous analysts view this as an overreaction. However, DeepSeek R1 does mark a real breakthrough in cost efficiency and openness, setting a precedent for future competitors.


3. The recipe for building top-tier AI designs is open, accelerating competition.


DeepSeek R1 has shown that releasing open weights and a detailed method is assisting success and caters to a growing open-source neighborhood. The AI landscape is continuing to shift from a couple of dominant exclusive gamers to a more competitive market where new entrants can develop on existing developments.


4. Proprietary AI service providers deal with increasing pressure.


Companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere needs to now separate beyond raw model efficiency. What remains their competitive moat? Some may shift towards enterprise-specific services, while others could explore hybrid organization designs.


5. AI infrastructure companies deal with mixed prospects.


Cloud computing service providers like AWS and Microsoft Azure still gain from design training but face pressure as inference moves to edge devices. Meanwhile, AI chipmakers like NVIDIA might see weaker need for high-end GPUs if more designs are trained with fewer resources.


6. The GenAI market remains on a strong development path.


Despite disruptions, AI costs is expected to broaden. According to IoT Analytics' Generative AI Market Report 2025-2030, worldwide spending on foundation models and vmeste-so-vsemi.ru platforms is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 52% through 2030, driven by enterprise adoption and wiki.vst.hs-furtwangen.de continuous efficiency gains.


Final Thought:


DeepSeek R1 is not just a technical milestone-it signals a shift in the AI market's economics. The dish for constructing strong AI designs is now more extensively available, guaranteeing higher competition and faster innovation. While proprietary designs should adjust, AI application companies and end-users stand to benefit the majority of.


Disclosure


Companies pointed out in this article-along with their products-are utilized as examples to display market advancements. No company paid or received favoritism in this article, and it is at the discretion of the analyst to select which examples are used. IoT Analytics makes efforts to vary the business and products pointed out to help shine attention to the many IoT and associated innovation market players.


It is worth noting that IoT Analytics may have commercial relationships with some business pointed out in its short articles, as some companies license IoT Analytics market research. However, for privacy, IoT Analytics can not divulge private relationships. Please contact compliance@iot-analytics.com for any questions or concerns on this front.

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