Aspeed Technology Inc (信驊), which supplies baseboard management controls (BMC) for servers powered by Nvidia Corp chips, gave a positive outlook for this year, expecting revenue to expand annually by a double-digit percentage on the back of relentless growth in server demand.
The upbeat forecast comes amid concern about the sustainability of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, which is usually gauged by capital expenditure plans by the world’s major cloud service providers (CSP), including Amazon.com Inc, Microsoft Corp and Google.
“The world’s major CSPs are spending [on server deployment] as normal in the third quarter,” Aspeed chairman Chris Lin (林鴻明) told reporters at the company’s booth at the Computex trade show in Taipei on Wednesday.
Photo: Lisa Wang, Taipei Times
“The tariffs issue apparently did not slow down their progress,” Lin said, referring to trade policies introduced by US President Donald Trump.
“Aside from AI servers, they are also adding general-purpose servers this year to help share workloads on cost consideration,” he said.
“This is quite different from what they did before,” he added.
Server deployments are boosting demand for Aspeed’s BMCs, Lin said.
An AI server powered by Nvidia’s latest GB300 NVL72 typically has 71 BMCs, similar to the server racks powered by previous-generation GB200 chips, but a dramatic increase from 15 BMCs used in server racks powered by H100 chips, which are two generations prior to the GB300, Aspeed said.
“A lot of rush orders have poured in over the past four months, significantly lifting the company’s book-to-bill ratio last month and this month,” Lin said. “Customers seem to have gained control over tariff issues and marketplace uncertainty.”
Greater demand prompted Aspeed to hike its revenue forecast for this quarter to NT$2 billion (US$66.51 million), up from its earlier estimate of at least NT$1.7 billion.
The company has factored in the 6 percent that the New Taiwan dollar gained against the US dollar.
“The third quarter is also shaping up well, although visibility in the fourth quarter is low,” Lin said.
For the whole year of this year, Aspeed expects revenue to grow by at least a double-digit percentage to an all-time high.
The company generated NT$6.46 billion in revenue last year, more than double from 2023.
BMCs would make up 80 percent of the company’s total revenue this year, Lin said.
Gross margin this year would be 65 or 66 percent, up from 64.3 percent last year, Lin said.
Aspeed posted net profit of NT$887 million last quarter, more than double the NT$391 million in the first quarter last year, but down 5.95 percent from NT$943 million a quarter earlier.
Earnings per share rose to NT$23.46 last quarter from NT$10.36 percent a year earlier and down from NT$24.95 a quarter earlier.
Aspeed at Computex is showcasing its new AST1800 chip, a versatile I/O expander chip designed to complement its AST2700 series BMCs.
The new chip enhances system capabilities by providing additional I/O expansion options, the firm said.
Its AST2700 BMC, which was unveiled at Computex last year, would enter volume production in the first quarter of next year.
The chip would be made using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (台積電) 12-nanometer technology, Aspeed said.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
Popular vape brands such as Geek Bar might get more expensive in the US — if you can find them at all. Shipments of vapes from China to the US ground to a near halt last month from a year ago, official data showed, hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and a crackdown on unauthorized e-cigarettes in the world’s biggest market for smoking alternatives. That includes Geek Bar, a brand of flavored vapes that is not authorized to sell in the US, but which had been widely available due to porous import controls. One retailer, who asked not to be named, because
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,
RSS