On June 18, eight departments including the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the “Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Development of “Artificial Intelligence + Consumption”, proposing 17 specific measures around five major aspects, including improving “artificial intelligence + commodity consumption” and expanding “artificial intelligence + service consumption”.
From the comprehensive upgrade of smart terminals to the entry of humanoid robots into the home, from the full-scenario linkage of smart homes to the accelerated implementation of elderly care robots – this policy-driven consumption change is opening up an unprecedented market space for the IT operation and maintenance outsourcing industry.
Policy Combination: From the Supply Side to the Demand Side, Comprehensively Open Up AI Consumption Blockpoints
The most noteworthy point of this “Opinion” is that efforts should be made from both supply and demand sides at the same time.
On the supply side, it is clearly proposed to expand the supply of intelligent terminals, promote the transformation of consumer electronics products from functional to intelligent, lay out a new track for humanoid robot consumption, and accelerate the penetration of robots from industrial scenarios to consumer scenarios.
On the demand side, build a platform for the launch of artificial intelligence products, support launches and first exhibitions, and organize the “Artificial Intelligence Enters Ten Thousands of Homes” event.
In terms of specific scenarios, the “Opinions” cover a wide range of topics.
In the smart home field, it is proposed to create an intelligent product ecosystem that links “people, cars, and homes” in all scenarios, and promote the integration of AI, brain-computer interface, augmented reality (AR) and other cutting-edge technologies.
The field of elderly care services clearly requires guidance for elderly care service institutions to use artificial intelligence technology, lay out information management, intelligent security and other technical systems, and equip intelligent nursing robots, rehabilitation robots and other products.
In addition, cultural tourism, accommodation and catering, education and other fields are also involved.
Lin Jian, deputy director of the Institute of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, commented that the “Opinions” use multi-department collaboration to build a policy framework of “artificial intelligence + consumption”, which is conducive to opening up policy channels for technological innovation and consumption upgrading, and promoting the logic of consumption growth from relying on external stimulation to relying on technological empowerment.
IT operation and maintenance outsourcing: the “hidden winner” under policy dividends
The policy direction is clear – a large number of AI smart terminals will flood into homes, communities, elderly care institutions, and commercial places.
But a question that is easily overlooked is: Who will ensure the stable operation of these equipment and systems?
Who will maintain the cloud platform, data links and computing infrastructure behind it?
The answer points to the IT operation and maintenance outsourcing industry.
Let’s first look at the market size.
According to data from multiple authoritative institutions, China’s IT operation and maintenance outsourcing market is experiencing a period of rapid growth. The industry scale has jumped from approximately 300 billion yuan in 2023 to 364.72 billion yuan in 2024, and further climbed to 445.09 billion yuan in 2025. It is expected to exceed the 500 billion yuan mark in 2026.
Behind this growth curve are the multiple overlapping drivers of enterprise digital transformation, Xinchuang’s localization substitution, and the accelerated implementation of artificial intelligence technology.
The introduction of the “artificial intelligence + consumption” policy is equivalent to adding another fire to this growth curve.
Three major opportunities are emerging
First, the massive number of smart terminals has created “last mile” operation and maintenance requirements.
From smart homes to elderly care robots, from smart wearables to AI glasses, hundreds of millions of consumer-grade smart devices will enter thousands of households.
These devices not only require front-end installation and debugging, but also require continuous system upgrades, troubleshooting and data security.
For outsourcing service providers who are good at terminal operation and maintenance, this is an excellent window to extend from the “enterprise market” to the “consumer market”.
Second, AIOps has become standard, and operation and maintenance outsourcing has shifted from “selling people” to “selling intelligence”.
The report shows that the performance of the intelligent operation and maintenance (AIOps) software market is particularly eye-catching – the market size will reach 12.86 billion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 24.3%, which is much higher than the overall 15.7% growth rate of IT management software.
With the help of AIOps capabilities, fault repair time can be shortened by 70%, and operation and maintenance costs can be reduced by 35% to 50%.
Leading outsourcing service providers have integrated AI capabilities into daily services – automated monitoring, intelligent fault diagnosis, and natural language interaction are becoming standard.
As industry observers have pointed out, deploying AIOps is no longer a “choice question” but a “license” related to future survival – the mainstream value of the industry is fundamentally changing from “providing manpower” to “delivering intelligence”.
Third, compliance and security requirements have been upgraded simultaneously.
Smart terminals collect a large amount of user data, and regulations such as the Data Security Law and the Personal Information Protection Law have put forward higher requirements for the compliance qualifications and security capabilities of operation and maintenance service providers.
Data shows that compliance-related outsourcing demand will exceed 50 billion yuan per year in 2024, and is continuing to rise.
Compliance capabilities have gone from being a “plus” to being “the ticket.”
The industry is being reshuffled, who is the first to get the upper hand during the window period?
The report shows that industry concentration is increasing rapidly, and the market share of the top ten service providers is expected to increase from 27% in 2024 to 35% in 2026.
This means that small and medium-sized service providers will face the risk of being marginalized if they cannot establish differentiated barriers in specialized fields.
On the contrary, regional service providers that are deeply involved in specific fields are expected to gain more market opportunities by leveraging their professional advantages.
Industry analysts believe that the market size of 500 billion yuan is an important signal.
During the period of rapid market expansion, Party A is more inclined to choose service providers with mature solutions for specific scenarios, rather than pursuing “large and comprehensive” general-purpose suppliers.
Conclusion
When AI moves from factories to homes, and from laboratories to life, a consumption upgrade from “functional” to “intelligent” is in full swing.
For the IT operation and maintenance outsourcing industry, this is not only an expansion of market size, but also a reconstruction of value positioning – from a “repairman” behind the scenes to a “smart housekeeper” at the front desk, and from a cost center to a value engine.
The window period has opened.
Whoever can take the lead in completing the transformation from “human outsourcing” to “intelligent operation and maintenance” will be able to take the lead in this 500 billion market wave.
