Qualcomm Inc, the top maker of mobile phone processors, is entering the lucrative artificial intelligence (AI) data center market with new chips and computers, aiming to challenge Nvidia Corp in the fastest-growing part of the industry.
The AI200 will start shipping next year and be offered as either a standalone component, cards that can be added into existing machines or as part of a full rack of servers provided by Qualcomm. The first customer for the offerings will be Saudi Arabia’s AI start-up Humain, which plans to deploy 200 megawatts of computing based on the new chips starting next year.
Those debut products will be followed by the AI250 in 2027, the San Diego company said yesterday. If supplied only as a chip, the component could work inside gear that’s based on processors from Nvidia or other rivals. As a full server, it will compete with offerings from those chipmakers.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
Qualcomm is trying to break into an area that’s reshaped the semiconductor industry, with hundreds of billions of dollars being spent on data centers to power AI software and services. The company said new memory-related capabilities and the power efficiency of designs that owe their roots to mobile device technology will attract customers, despite Qualcomm’s relatively late entry.
The new offerings are built around a neural processing unit, a type of chip that debuted in smartphones and is designed to speed up AI-related workloads without killing battery life. That capability has been developed further through Qualcomm’s move into laptop chips and has now been scaled up for use in the most powerful computers.
Under chief executive officer Cristiano Amon, Qualcomm is trying to diversify away from its dependence on smartphones, which are no longer increasing sales as quickly as they once did. The company has branched out into chips for cars and PCs, but is only now offering a product in what’s become the biggest single market for processors.
Qualcomm has been “quiet in this space, taking its time and building its strength,” Qualcomm senior vice president Durga Malladi said. The company is in talks with all of the biggest buyers of such chips on deploying server racks based on its hardware, he said.
Winning orders from companies such as Microsoft Corp, Amazon.com Inc and Meta Platforms Inc would offer a significant new revenue source for Qualcomm.
The company has posted solid, profitable growth over the last two years, but investors have favored other tech stocks. Qualcomm shares have gained 10 percent this year, lagging behind a 40 percent surge by the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index.
Nvidia, which remains atop the AI computing world, is on target to generate more than US$180 billion in revenue from its data center unit this year, more than any other chipmaker – including Qualcomm – will get in total, according to estimates.
HSBC Holdings PLC is deepening its commitment to Taiwan as the economy emerges as one of the bank’s fastest-growing markets globally, driven by an artificial intelligence (AI) investment boom, expanding cross-border trade, and rising wealth creation. “The advantage that Taiwan has is a growth story linked to the semiconductor and broader AI industries, strong underlying corporate performance, and wealth creation,” said Surendra Rosha, HSBC’s co-chief executive for Asia and the Middle East, in an exclusive interview with the Taipei Times on June 2, during this year’s HSBC Taiwan Conference. That combination has helped HSBC cement its position as the most profitable international
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said it would work with US chipmaker Intel Corp to jointly develop and deploy next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and intelligent computing platforms in a move to capture booming demand for AI computing systems. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康), said in a statement that the partnership would combine its global manufacturing scale, system integration expertise and AI data center deployment capabilities with Intel’s strengths in processor architecture, silicon technologies and software ecosystem. The companies said they plan to work on equipment used in AI data centers, including server racks powered by
The average pay to employees by ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) was the highest among the companies listed on the local main board last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) ranked seventh, the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) said on Monday. Data compiled by the exchange showed ASE Technology, the world’s largest chip packaging and testing services provider, paid its employees an average of NT$6.28 million (US$199,746) last year, up 40 percent from a year earlier. TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and the most profitable company in Taiwan, paid its employees NT$4.09 million on average, up
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is now ranked ninth among the world’s 100 most valuable companies after its market capitalization more than doubled over the past year, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Taiwan said in a report last month. TSMC’s market capitalization surged 101 percent year-on-year to US$1.427 trillion as of March 31, the accounting and consulting firm’s 2026 Global Top 100 Companies by Market Capitalization report said. The gain catapulted the world’s largest contract chipmaker from 12th place to ninth in the rankings, and it was the fastest-growing among the global top 10, it said. TSMC was the only Taiwanese company among the top
RSS