The Computex trade show opens this week in Taipei, and as in years past would draw industry chieftains such as Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), Qualcomm Inc CEO Cristiano Amon and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海) chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉).
While last year’s event was a celebration of the post-ChatGPT artificial intelligence (AI) boom, executives this year are likely grappling with the uncertainty of the administration of US President Donald Trump’s effort to reshape the global trade order — disrupting a decades-old model for tech manufacturing.
The exhibition would of course feature the hardware required to bring AI to life. Apart from Nvidia chips, that includes server racks assembled by Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康), power components from Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) and datacenter cooling systems from Asia Vital Components Co (奇鋐). While they tout new products onstage, these companies are also confronting profound questions about the US administration’s tariff regime.
Photo: CNA
SHIFTING GEOGRAPHY
Trump wants manufacturing back home. To that end, the White House has secured major chipmaking commitments, most notably an additional US$100 billion investment from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電). As TSMC builds out its Arizona operations with more production lines, supply chain players are also joining it in the US — and accelerating those plans because of the new tariffs.
Asia’s biggest electronics companies might also find new opportunity in the Middle East. In the week before Computex, a US delegation led by Trump visited Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh with lofty promises of new trade deals. Alongside a relaxation of AI chip export rules, the visit underlines the Middle East’s growing importance as a player in the AI field.
“The new focus on export rules around China and Huawei [Technologies Co (華為)] means more opportunity for Taiwan,” industry analyst Dan Nystedt said.
QUESTIONABLE PAYOFF
From Advanced Micro Devices Inc to Nvidia and Qualcomm, the development of generative AI was heralded at Computex last year as comparable to the advent of the Internet.
Consumers have not responded with the same enthusiasm. Smartphone shipments grew by only 2.4 percent and PCs by an even slimmer 1.8 percent over the holiday quarter, industry tracker International Data Corp (IDC) said. The promises from the likes of Samsung Electronics Co about how transformative AI would be in day-to-day life have not come to pass. Apple has not even rolled out its full AI suite for iPhones yet.
Executives at Computex would face questions about when the payoff is supposed to come and address concerns about an AI bubble.
NEW MAN IN CHARGE
Intel Corp’s new CEO Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) would not be at Computex in a formal capacity, as the company would not conduct its traditional keynote address. However, he would likely be attending more meetings than anyone at the show, as he continues his survey of partners and customers, while working to reassure and recruit partners for the effort to close ground on Nvidia and TSMC.
“Computex is historically such a PC-focused event, and yet Intel seems to be sitting it out quietly,” IDC analyst Bryan Ma (馬伯遠) said. “It’s understandable given everything else going on in the organization right now, but their absence is notable, given all of their talk about AI PCs last year.”
FOXCONN DEBUT
Foxconn is making an unusually prominent appearance, and Liu would host a keynote presentation tomorrow, likely underscoring its growing role as an AI server assembler. At the same time, the company is working to diversify its revenue away from assembling smartphones and other consumer electronics to electric vehicles. The company is also keen on advancing robotics.
“Of course AI plus robots,” Liu has said about the focus at Computex.
NEXT FOR NVIDIA
Nvidia has been forthcoming with plans to upgrade its AI chips on a roughly annual basis, and Huang has also talked about the potential of AI in the robotics industry. Microsoft Corp’s developer event, Build, is taking place the same week, in Seattle, and speculation has grown about Nvidia joining Qualcomm in building more AI-capable, Arm Holdings PLC-based chips for PCs.
“I’m keeping my eyes and ears open for whatever Nvidia and MediaTek [Inc (聯發科)] might confirm around their rumored Windows-on-Arm solution,” Ma said. That might further challenge Intel’s traditional stronghold.
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