Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶), one of the largest contract notebook computer makers in Taiwan, yesterday said that Texas is one of its top options as it considers investing in the US.
Speaking with reporters on the sidelines of the company’s weiya (尾牙), or year-end dinner, Compal president Anthony Peter Bonadero said that in response to the return to the White House of US president-elect Donald Trump, who vowed to raise tariffs during his campaign trail, the company is considering investments in the US.
Compal is looking at several options in particular states in the southern US, and Texas is one of the leading options, as it is the only state in the US with an independent electricity grid network, Bonadero said.
Photo: Fang Wei-chieh, Taipei Times
Compal, which also makes artificial intelligence (AI) servers, is one of several Taiwanese tech firms to list Texas as their top investment venue option.
Over the weekend, Inventec Corp (英業達) president Jack Tsai (蔡枝安), another AI server maker in Taiwan, also said that Texas is a likely choice for its US investments, citing the state’s adequate power supply, as well as its proximity to Mexico.
As global demand for AI servers largely comes from four mega data centers in the US, it is no surprise that Compal is thinking about investments in manufacturing in North America over the longer term, Bonadero said.
The company is expanding its talent pool for the fast-growing server business, while assessing a production expansion plan, he said.
Compal has joined US-based AI chip designer Nvidia Corp’s MGX server platform — a modular reference design supporting diverse applications, from remote visualization to edge supercomputing, he said.
The company aims to strengthen its ties with the US AI giant, he added.
AI servers would account for 15 percent to 20 percent of the company’s sales generated by servers this year, up from last year’s low single digits, as the company aggressively searches for business opportunities created by the Nvidia MGX ecosystem, he said.
While the large language model — which refers to a type of machine learning model designed for natural language processing tasks such as language generation — is a very important field for AI server development, Compal would also explore other areas for growth, he said.
In addition, demand for AI PCs is expected to grow this year due to the end of support from Windows 10 in the fourth quarter of the year with replacements of Chromebook computers, he said.
Demand for AI PCs would account for more than 40 percent of total PC sales next year, he said.
The company has laid a solid foundation in PC and smart device production and is looking for a new growth driver, Compal chairman Ray Chen (陳瑞聰) said.
It expects AI servers, automotive electronics and 5G products to become major sources of sales, he said.
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