A graphics processing unit (GPU) upgrade by Nvidia Corp is expected to drive growth in the global gaming industry this year and benefit local firms with high exposure to the sector, Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) said in a client note on Friday.
The US chipmaker is to launch its new Ampere-based GPU in the second half of this year, leading to a rebound in demand for gaming GPUs and notebook computers after weaker-than-expected sales in the sector last year due to Nvidia digesting inventory, Yuanta said.
A successor to units based on the Turing architecture, Nvidia’s next-generation GPU based on the Ampere architecture is to adopt 7-nanometer technology, which would lead to a 50 percent increase in graphics performance while halving power consumption, the note said.
New Taipei City headquartered Micro-Star International Co (MSI, 微星科技), which makes gaming computers, graphics cards and motherboards, is expected to reap the most benefit, as 60 percent of the company’s sales come from the gaming sector, Yuanta said.
Gigabyte Technology Co Ltd (技嘉) and PC company Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) are also expected to benefit from the GPU upgrade, as about 30 percent of their revenues are rooted in the gaming business, it said.
MSI has the highest market share in the gaming business as it leads the gaming laptop market in terms of shipments ahead of Asustek, Dell Inc, Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) and Acer Inc (宏碁), Yuanta said, citing data compiled by various research institutes.
The market for gaming laptops is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 22 percent from 2016 to 2023, according to a Market Research Future report.
Asustek’s operations showed significant improvement in the second half of last year as the company’s restructuring efforts, which began in 2018, started to bear fruit, Yuanta said.
Gigabyte reported robust sales last quarter thanks to new Nvidia product launches, as well as strong server shipments.
The company’s server business is forecast to maintain a growth rate of about 20 percent this year, Yuanta said.
Yuanta issued a “buy” rating on MSI, Gigabyte and Asustek shares, with target prices of NT$112, NT$63 and NT$262 respectively.
MSI shares on Tuesday closed at NT$86.7 while Gigabyte shares were NT$49.7, having risen 13.48 percent and 23.63 percent last year respectively.
Asustek shares closed at NT$231.5, an annual gain of 14.89 percent.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) last week recorded an increase in the number of shareholders to the highest in almost eight months, despite its share price falling 3.38 percent from the previous week, Taiwan Stock Exchange data released on Saturday showed. As of Friday, TSMC had 1.88 million shareholders, the most since the week of April 25 and an increase of 31,870 from the previous week, the data showed. The number of shareholders jumped despite a drop of NT$50 (US$1.59), or 3.38 percent, in TSMC’s share price from a week earlier to NT$1,430, as investors took profits from their earlier gains
In a high-security Shenzhen laboratory, Chinese scientists have built what Washington has spent years trying to prevent: a prototype of a machine capable of producing the cutting-edge semiconductor chips that power artificial intelligence (AI), smartphones and weapons central to Western military dominance, Reuters has learned. Completed early this year and undergoing testing, the prototype fills nearly an entire factory floor. It was built by a team of former engineers from Dutch semiconductor giant ASML who reverse-engineered the company’s extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machines, according to two people with knowledge of the project. EUV machines sit at the heart of a technological Cold
Taiwan’s long-term economic competitiveness will hinge not only on national champions like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) but also on the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies, a US-based scholar has said. At a lecture in Taipei on Tuesday, Jeffrey Ding, assistant professor of political science at the George Washington University and author of "Technology and the Rise of Great Powers," argued that historical experience shows that general-purpose technologies (GPTs) — such as electricity, computers and now AI — shape long-term economic advantages through their diffusion across the broader economy. "What really matters is not who pioneers
TAIWAN VALUE CHAIN: Foxtron is to fully own Luxgen following the transaction and it plans to launch a new electric model, the Foxtron Bria, in Taiwan next year Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車) yesterday said that its board of directors approved the disposal of its electric vehicle (EV) unit, Luxgen Motor Co (納智捷汽車), to Foxtron Vehicle Technologies Co (鴻華先進) for NT$787.6 million (US$24.98 million). Foxtron, a half-half joint venture between Yulon affiliate Hua-Chuang Automobile Information Technical Center Co (華創車電) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), expects to wrap up the deal in the first quarter of next year. Foxtron would fully own Luxgen following the transaction, including five car distributing companies, outlets and all employees. The deal is subject to the approval of the Fair Trade Commission, Foxtron said. “Foxtron will be