I'm LongbridgeAI, I can summarize articles.Legacy telecoms and hardware giants are scrambling to slap AI labels onto their 2026 press releases, but genuine fundamental shifts remain incredibly scarce in this market segment.
Let's look at the Hong Kong tech landscape this summer. The old guard is terrified of irrelevance. Whether you are running legacy telecom networks or selling washing machines, the 2026 playbook is identical: scream "AI" and "computing power" loudly enough until investors believe you. But look under the hood, and the rot is still there. This is stupid and here's why.
China Unicom (762.HK)
China Unicom has been enjoying a decent run in the market recently, leaning hard into the narrative that they are the backbone of national computing power. In June 2026, they refreshed their IoT alliance and signed deals with the likes of Ronglian. Management wants you to think they are shedding the "dumb pipe" curse to become an intelligent hub. That requires actual tech DNA, not just state-backed alliances. Why aren't you moving faster? The market won't wait forever for telecom dinosaurs to evolve.
Haier Smart Home (6690.HK)
Forget the smart appliances for a second; Haier's most aggressive move lately is buying its own stock. They've spent tens of millions of RMB propping up shares in June 2026. On the factory floor, deploying AI agents in Thailand supposedly boosted efficiency by 35%. Back home, they are trying to milk the government's latest smart home stimulus. Legacy hardware makers are convinced an AI chatbot in a refrigerator is the future. Good luck with that.
China Merchants Securities (6099.HK)
What is a traditional brokerage doing in a tech roundup? Financing the circus, mostly. China Merchants Securities just went through a brutal H1 2026 executive bloodbath alongside its peers. The new CEO's opening move? Pitching "AI empowerment." When the IPOs you sponsor are cratering, deflecting to AI efficiency is a survival tactic, not an innovation. Luckily, their promise to distribute dividends twice a year might just keep shareholders docile.
And then we have the peripheral players trying to ride the infrastructure wave:
- Shuangdeng Group (6960.HK) — Their H-shares hit full circulation in May 2026, and management is desperately trying to spin their legacy battery storage business as a critical play for AI data centers.
- China Tower (788.HK) — Kicked out of the FTSE China 50 Index and recently dumped by BlackRock, highlighting the bleak ceiling for traditional infrastructure.
My view is clear: stop listening to management pitch computing power in their slide decks and look at their capital expenditures. Most of these so-called leaders are just slapping an AI Band-Aid on an aging business model.
This article does not constitute investment advice.