Advantech Co (研華), the world’s biggest maker of industrial computers, expects increasing industrial automation demand from China to boost its industrial Internet of Things (IoT) business revenue in the region by a double-digit percentage next year, extending this year’s growth momentum.
China’s fast-growing electronics and automotive sectors are fueling demand for robots and automation as Chinese manufacturers battle rising labor costs, Advantech industrial IoT group vice president Allan Tsay (蔡奇男) told reporters on the sidelines of the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot Show at Taipei’s Nangang Exhibition Center, Hall 1.
Chinese manufacturers’ latest push for “intelligent” factories is driving demand for industrial Internet of Things solutions, Tsay said.
Rising demand from Chinese firms in Apple Inc’s supply chain to automate production lines ahead of the launch of Apple’s new iPhones has also boosted orders, he added.
Automation deployment in China helped boost Advantech’s industrial IoT revenue in the region by more than 10 percent annually in the first half of this year, Tsay said.
The growth momentum will carry into the second half and is expected to strengthen next year as local Chinese governments aim to roll out more “smart” city projects, especially intelligent rail systems, he added.
“Smart cities will be the next leg of growth, following intelligent manufacturing,” Tsay said.
Increasing uptake of wireless technologies such as narrow-band Internet of Things and long-range wide area networks facilitate the deployment of smart cities because of broader Internet coverage, he added.
Advantech offers a total solution for industrial automation, including hardware and software for data collection and big data analysis, he added.
A new cloud-enabled platform, dubbed WISE-PaaS, will allow customers to monitor and manage production lines from a remote “war room,” Advantech said.
By offering tailor-made services for diverse sectors, Advantech expects the number of its WISE-PaaS partners to rise to 400 within the next three years, compared with the current 57, Tsay said.
WISE-PaaS can be adapted for factory environment surveillance, such as monitoring energy consumption, wastewater or air pollution at different facilities, he said.
Advantech reported revenue of NT$3.82 billion (US$127.07 million) for last month, up 11.17 percent monthly and 6.8 percent annually. Cumulative revenue in the first eight months totaled NT$28.68 billion, up 3.7 percent annually.
In Italy’s storied gold-making hubs, jewelers are reworking their designs to trim gold content as they race to blunt the effect of record prices and appeal to shoppers watching their budgets. Gold prices hit a record high on Thursday, surging near US$5,600 an ounce, more than double a year ago as geopolitical concerns and jitters over trade pushed investors toward the safe-haven asset. The rally is putting undue pressure on small artisans as they face mounting demands from customers, including international brands, to produce cheaper items, from signature pieces to wedding rings, according to interviews with four independent jewelers in Italy’s main
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has talked up the benefits of a weaker yen in a campaign speech, adopting a tone at odds with her finance ministry, which has refused to rule out any options to counter excessive foreign exchange volatility. Takaichi later softened her stance, saying she did not have a preference for the yen’s direction. “People say the weak yen is bad right now, but for export industries, it’s a major opportunity,” Takaichi said on Saturday at a rally for Liberal Democratic Party candidate Daishiro Yamagiwa in Kanagawa Prefecture ahead of a snap election on Sunday. “Whether it’s selling food or
CONCERNS: Tech companies investing in AI businesses that purchase their products have raised questions among investors that they are artificially propping up demand Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday said that the company would be participating in OpenAI’s latest funding round, describing it as potentially “the largest investment we’ve ever made.” “We will invest a great deal of money,” Huang told reporters while visiting Taipei. “I believe in OpenAI. The work that they do is incredible. They’re one of the most consequential companies of our time.” Huang did not say exactly how much Nvidia might contribute, but described the investment as “huge.” “Let Sam announce how much he’s going to raise — it’s for him to decide,” Huang said, referring to OpenAI
The global server market is expected to grow 12.8 percent annually this year, with artificial intelligence (AI) servers projected to account for 16.5 percent, driven by continued investment in AI infrastructure by major cloud service providers (CSPs), market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. Global AI server shipments this year are expected to increase 28 percent year-on-year to more than 2.7 million units, driven by sustained demand from CSPs and government sovereign cloud projects, TrendForce analyst Frank Kung (龔明德) told the Taipei Times. Demand for GPU-based AI servers, including Nvidia Corp’s GB and Vera Rubin rack systems, is expected to remain high,
RSS