A buying spree of notebook computers running Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system is unlikely to be seen until the second half of next year as high price tags may prompt consumers to put their purchasing plans on hold, foreign brokerages said on Saturday.
In addition, the rising popularity of tablet computers is expected to hamper sales of the new gadgets equipped with the Windows 8 operating system, the brokerages said.
They added that the weakness of the global economic fundamentals which has hurt demand for high-tech products is expected to weaken consumers’ interest in new devices bundled with Windows 8.
Microsoft is scheduled to unveil the Windows 8 operating system on Friday and the market has widely expected the new invention will revive buying interest in notebook computers.
Many hope the new operating system will lead to the mass replacement of old models and boost shipments for notebook computer makers in the fourth quarter of this year.
However, Eve Jung (戎宜蘋), a hardware industry analyst with Nomura Securities, said she is not that optimistic.
In a research note, Jung said she expects a buying spree of Windows 8 models will not happen in the fourth quarter of this year, but might happen in the second half of next year, taking into account their high prices.
Kirk Yang (楊應超), an analyst with Barclays Plc, said that until prices of ultrabook computers fall to between US$699 and US$799, and prices of regular notebook computers are cut to between US$599 and US$699, Windows 8 models will not appear attractive enough to give a big revenue boost to notebook computer makers.
Yang said he is also afraid that slowing global demand will hurt buying in the fourth quarter, adding that he has lowered a forecast of notebook computer shipment growth for the quarter to 8 percent from 12 percent.
In the fourth quarter, low-priced tablet computers may continue to erode sales and gross margins of notebook computer ODM services providers, Jung said.
As a result, Jung has maintained a “reduce” rating on shares of Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶電腦) and Wistron Corp (緯創) and reiterated a “neutral” recommendation on shares of Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦) and Pegatron Corp (和碩).
However, Jung has rated a “buy” on shares of personal computer vendor Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦).
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
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
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