Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) yesterday said it plans to roll out its first computers with artificial-intelligence (AI) capabilities next year, jumping on the trend of generative AI, but the PC maker expects that this new breed of PC would only make up a marginal share of the overall PC market by 2025.
As generative AI algorithms are to be increasingly deployed on edge computing devices for daily use rather than on cloud-based servers, Asustek said it expects that AI-enabled PCs and smartphones would become available on the market next year. Embracing the era of AI, smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) earlier this month launched its new flagship processor, the Dimensity 9300, incorporating a generative AI engine and bringing large-language-model applications to smartphones, he said.
The AI PCs are to capture a single-digit percentage of overall PC shipments next year, company co-CEO Samson Hu (胡書賓) told reporters on the sidelines of an annual technology forum organized by the alumni association of the Department of Electrical Engineering at National Cheng Kung University in Tainan.
Photo: Lisa Wang, Taipei Times
Hu was one of five speakers during the forum, themed on generative AI’s development, applications and ecosystem. The forum focuses on exploring new generative AI business opportunities for Taiwanese companies from memorychip makers, PC makers and chip designers, as well as neural processing unit (NPU) developers.
“As AI PCs are widely considered an important trend, not only Asustek, but basically every PC vendor is mulling unveiling their own models next year,” Hu said.
First-wave AI PCs might be equipped with Intel Corp’s Meteor Lake CPU, with its embedded NPU, to deliver AI applications developed by about 300 independent software vendors (ISV) using Intel’s OpenVino development tools, Hu said.
Those ISVs include Taiwan’s CyberLink Corp (訊連科技).
Intel is scheduled to launch its Meteor Lake processor next month.
However, some might only consider defining computers capable of executing Microsoft Corp’s generative AI tools for enterprise users — Microsoft365 Copilot — as AI PCs, Hu said.
No consensus has been reached by those in the technology industry about how to define an AI PC, he said.
An AI PC should carry a higher price tag than standard PCs, given that it would be equipped with more advanced processors for AI algorithms and greater memory.
As AI PCs are still in their infancy, it might take some time for them to reach a double-digit percentage penetration rate beyond 2025, Hu said.
That is despite Intel projecting worldwide AI PC shipments would climb to 100 million units within two years.
The uptake of AI PCs would largely depend on how much benefit these powerful PCs would bring to users’ daily life and work, Hu said.
Moreover, time would be needed for consumers to adapt to using new applications, he added.
The introduction of AI PCs would not be a key factor in stimulating PC demand next year, market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said in a report last week.
Instead, most upgrades to AI PC devices would be part of the business equipment replacement cycle projected for next year, it said.
Rather, AI PCs would mostly be adopted by enterprises and content creators, given the high price tags for hardware and software upgrades, the researcher said.
Global notebook computer shipments are to resume 3.2 percent year-on-year growth to 172 million units next year, after an annual contraction of 10.2 percent to 167 million units this year, TrendForce said.
For the average consumers, it would be a challenge to rapidly drive demand for AI PCs, as there is a lack of killer applications, and existing PCs offer a wider range of cloud-AI applications for daily life and entertainment applications, TrendForce said.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San