Wistron Corp (緯創), one of Nvidia Corp’s major artificial intelligence (AI) server suppliers, plans to significantly boost its capital expenditure to NT$35 billion (US$1.07 billion) this year, up 83 percent from NT$19.5 billion last year.
One-third of the expenditure would be earmarked for AI-related capacity expansion in Taiwan, Wistron chairman Simon Lin (林憲銘) told investors on Monday.
A smaller portion of the outlay would be for production expansion in the US, he added.
Photo: Fang Wei-chieh, Taipei Times
Wistron operates install bases in California and Texas, which can be easily converted into production lines if needed, Lin said.
“Such scale of capital expenditure increase reflects our customers’ growth momentum in 2025. A majority of them are AI-related products. At the beginning of this year, our major customer showed up and gave its support,” Lin said, referring to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) presence at the company’s employee event in Taipei.
“We are expecting top-line and bottom-line growth in 2025,” Lin said, adding that revenue is expected to grow 23 percent from last year’s record-high of NT$1.05 trillion.
Despite the US’ threat of a 25 percent tariff on Mexican goods, Wistron will continue expanding AI-related capacity in Mexico at the request of its key customer in North America, Wistron said.
Customers would absorb the increases in manufacturing costs stemming from tariffs, it said.
The company has started shipping GB200 products to its key customer and is on track to ship GB300 products, Wistron president Jeff Lin (林建勳) said.
Wistron — which makes graphics processing unit (GPU)-based AI servers, GPU accelerator cards, AI modules and AI server racks — expects servers and AI-related products to contribute more than 50 percent of the company’s total revenue this year.
PC and notebook computer manufacturing will constitute the remaining revenue, it said.
Asked whether Wistron would help customers assemble humanoid robots, Lin said the company would focus on supplying software and key components for robots, rather than low-value assembly.
Wistron recorded net income of NT$17.45 billion for last year, a surge of 52 percent from NT$11.47 billion in 2023. That translated into earnings per share of NT$6.11, up from NT$4.08 the previous year.
The company’s board of directors has approved a cash dividend of NT$3.8 per share, representing a payout ratio of 62 percent.
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
Meta Platforms Inc offered US$100 million bonuses to OpenAI employees in an unsuccessful bid to poach the ChatGPT maker’s talent and strengthen its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) teams, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said. Facebook’s parent company — a competitor of OpenAI — also offered “giant” annual salaries exceeding US$100 million to OpenAI staffers, Altman said in an interview on the Uncapped with Jack Altman podcast released on Tuesday. “It is crazy,” Sam Altman told his brother Jack in the interview. “I’m really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them
PLANS: MSI is also planning to upgrade its service center in the Netherlands Micro-Star International Co (MSI, 微星) yesterday said it plans to set up a server assembly line at its Poland service center this year at the earliest. The computer and peripherals manufacturer expects that the new server assembly line would shorten transportation times in shipments to European countries, a company spokesperson told the Taipei Times by telephone. MSI manufactures motherboards, graphics cards, notebook computers, servers, optical storage devices and communication devices. The company operates plants in Taiwan and China, and runs a global network of service centers. The company is also considering upgrading its service center in the Netherlands into a