Computex is expected to draw US$20 billion in business opportunities for local information and communications technology (ICT) companies, the event’s organizers said yesterday at a press briefing.
Computex, the world’s second-largest computer show after CeBIT in Germany, is scheduled to be held from June 2 through June 6 at the Taipei World Trade Centers in the Nangang and Xinyi districts of Taipei.
This year’s Computex has been over-subscribed, with 1,700 exhibitors taking 4,600 booths, and the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) is getting ready to accommodate a projected turnout of 35,000 international buyers, TAITRA executive vice president Walter Yeh (葉明水) said.
With the warming of cross-strait relations, this year’s Computex will feature an 80-booth China pavilion for the first time, featuring brands from China such as Tsinghua Tongfang Co (清華東方), Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and MALATA Mobile Communication Co (萬利達移動通信).
Other than product launches of items including PC systems, peripherals, motherboards and components, the two main features of this year’s Computex will be worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) technology and trends in the mobile Internet market, Yeh said.
Taiwan has invested heavily in WiMAX technology, with license holders Tatung InfoComm Co (大同電信) and Vmax Telecom Co (威邁思) commencing operations at their stations by June, while Global Mobile Corp (全球一動) and Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) have rescheduled their launch dates to the third or fourth quarter at the latest.
“By March 20 next year, all WiMAX licenses will have expired, so local operators will have to launch before that deadline. We can expect many associated products to be developed and exhibited at Computex this year,” Mike Lin (林智清), a consultant at the Taipei Computer Association (台北市電腦公會), joint organizer of the event, said yesterday.
Chen Ching-wen (陳文清), director at Topology Research Institute (拓墣產業), said the mobile Internet sector would be a main feature at the show particularly because of Taiwan’s unique strength in the mobile PC supply chain.
DECOUPLING? In a sign of deeper US-China technology decoupling, Apple has held initial talks about using Baidu’s generative AI technology in its iPhones, the Wall Street Journal said China has introduced guidelines to phase out US microprocessors from Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) from government PCs and servers, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The procurement guidance also seeks to sideline Microsoft Corp’s Windows operating system and foreign-made database software in favor of domestic options, the report said. Chinese officials have begun following the guidelines, which were unveiled in December last year, the report said. They order government agencies above the township level to include criteria requiring “safe and reliable” processors and operating systems when making purchases, the newspaper said. The US has been aiming to boost domestic semiconductor
Nvidia Corp earned its US$2.2 trillion market cap by producing artificial intelligence (AI) chips that have become the lifeblood powering the new era of generative AI developers from start-ups to Microsoft Corp, OpenAI and Google parent Alphabet Inc. Almost as important to its hardware is the company’s nearly 20 years’ worth of computer code, which helps make competition with the company nearly impossible. More than 4 million global developers rely on Nvidia’s CUDA software platform to build AI and other apps. Now a coalition of tech companies that includes Qualcomm Inc, Google and Intel Corp plans to loosen Nvidia’s chokehold by going
ENERGY IMPACT: The electricity rate hike is expected to add about NT$4 billion to TSMC’s electricity bill a year and cut its annual earnings per share by about NT$0.154 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has left its long-term gross margin target unchanged despite the government deciding on Friday to raise electricity rates. One of the heaviest power consuming manufacturers in Taiwan, TSMC said it always respects the government’s energy policy and would continue to operate its fabs by making efforts in energy conservation. The chipmaker said it has left a long-term goal of more than 53 percent in gross margin unchanged. The Ministry of Economic Affairs concluded a power rate evaluation meeting on Friday, announcing electricity tariffs would go up by 11 percent on average to about NT$3.4518 per kilowatt-hour (kWh)
OPENING ADDRESS: The CEO is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence at the trade show’s opening on June 3, TAITRA said Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) chairperson and chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) is to deliver the opening keynote speech at Computex Taipei this year, the event’s organizer said in a statement yesterday. Su is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing (HPC) in the artificial intelligence (AI) era to open Computex, one of the world’s largest computer and technology trade events, at 9:30am on June 3, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said. Su is to explore how AMD and the company’s strategic technology partners are pushing the limits of AI and HPC, from data centers to