IC designer ASMedia Technology Inc (祥碩科技), a subsidiary of computer vendor Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), is forecast to benefit from broader adoption of the USB3.1 port and increasing chipset orders.
Revenues and earnings for ASMedia, which designs data storage controller chips, are expected to increase, with compound annual growth rates of 68 percent and 94 percent respectively from this year to 2017, a US-based brokerage said.
The growth is likely to be driven by rising adoption of the USB3.1/Type-C connector standard and chipset orders from Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), “with ASMedia leveraging its technology leadership, strong IP portfolios, solid customer relationships and competitive cost structure,” the brokerage wrote in a note to clients on Thursday.
The US-based brokerage said it is the only broker to cover ASMedia and gave an initial rating of “buy” on the stock, with a price target of NT$400.
ASMedia shares surged 9.89 percent to NT$239 yesterday.
Under Taiwanese regulations, the name of the brokerage cannot be reported because it offers specific forecasts that could influence the market.
The brokerage said it expects AMD to buy 6 million chipsets next year and 12 million chipsets in 2017 from ASMedia, after the companies announced an enhanced partnership late last year.
On the other hand, the adoption rate of USB3.1, which transmits data at 10 gigabits per second (Gbps) compared with UBS3.0’s 5Gbps, could rise to 3 percent this year and 15 percent next year from zero last year, thanks to specification upgrades among Intel Corp’s Skylake chipset platform and motherboard brands like Asustek and Micro-Star International Co (微星), the brokerage said.
The brokerage forecast that ASMedia, as a leading USB3.1 IC supplier, would increase its USB3.1 solution sales by 302 percent year-on-year next year, accounting for 45 percent of its total sales, compared with zero last year, along with a higher gross profit margin.
ASMedia, which listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in December 2012, reported consolidated revenue of NT$585.42 million (US$18.8 million) in the first five months of the year, a decline of 11 percent from the same period last year.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained