Demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips should spur growth for the semiconductor industry over the next few years, the CEO of a major supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) said, dismissing concerns that investors had misjudged the pace and extent of spending on AI.
While the global chip market has grown about 8 percent annually over the past 20 years, AI semiconductors should grow at a much higher rate going forward, Scientech Corp (辛耘) chief executive officer Hsu Ming-chi (許明琪) told Bloomberg Television.
“This booming of the AI industry has just begun,” Hsu said. “For the most prominent company, the equipment we sold to them probably increased two to three times in a year.”
Photo: An Rong Xu, Bloomberg
DOUBTS
Hsu’s comments came after Nvidia Corp reported earnings that failed to meet investors’ loftiest expectations. Analysts also issued fresh warnings that AI’s promise of rewiring global economies is thus far unproven.
Nvidia’s shares tumbled 9.5 percent on Tuesday, wiping out US$278.9 billion in the biggest loss of value ever for a US stock. The stock edged 1.7 percent lower on Wednesday after a media report that it received a subpoena from the US Department of Justice, which the company denied.
Still, Hsu said he expected his company would see quarterly sales grow sequentially during the second half of the year, after second-quarter revenue increased 4.61 percent to NT$2.29 billion (US$71.4 million) from NT$2.19 billion the previous quarter.
SCIENTECH OPTIMISTIC
Hsu expressed his confidence in the launch of many AI applications in the future.
Taipei-based Scientech makes equipment used in TSMC’s exclusive packaging technology, called chip-on-wafer-on-substrate. That is in turn employed to make AI chips for the likes of Nvidia. Scientech’s net profit in the first half grew 45.5 percent to NT$436.19 million from a year earlier and its share price has gained 76.4 percent since the beginning of this year.
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