Inventec Corp (英業達) expects its artificial intelligence (AI) server business to continue showing double-digit percentage growth this year following a 40 percent increase last year, chairman Sam Yeh (葉力誠) said on Tuesday.
As the company expands production capacity for AI servers, notebook computers and automotive electronics, as well as to support capacity expansion at its smart device subsidiary Inventec Appliances Corp (英華達), capital expenditure is to rise to US$1 billion this year from US$500 million last year, Yeh said at a company event in Taipei.
The construction of new facilities in Taiwan, the US, Mexico and Thailand is scheduled to be completed this year, he said.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
Inventec aims to play a key role in the AI server supply chain, as the company steps up design and manufacturing capabilities, strengthens supply-chain integration and deepens ties with cloud service providers (CSPs), he added.
The company expects shipments of “Level 11” servers to rise sharply from last year, driven by sustained demand from CSPs and enterprise customers, Inventec president Jack Tsai (蔡枝安) said at the same event.
About 50 percent of the company’s total AI server shipments this year would be of servers powered by application-specific integrated circuits, up from 40 percent last year, Tsai said.
However, models equipped with Nvidia Corp’s B200 and B300 chips remain the major driver of the company’s server shipment growth this year, he said.
The company has secured orders from at least two major customers for full-rack servers supporting Nvidia’s GB300 and Vera Rubin 200 platforms, as well as Advanced Micro Devices Inc’s MI450 architecture, he added.
The rising memory prices and tight raw material supply would weigh more heavily on the company’s notebook computer business than its server business, with laptop shipments this year expected to remain flat compared with last year, Inventec’s personal computer business group president Fermi Yin (尹福明) said, adding that the memory issue has not yet had a significant impact on customer demand thus far.
Inventec’s automotive electronics business saw revenue double last year, thanks to new production lines in Mexico that began operations in August, Tsai said.
The company expects this business to double revenue again this year on the back of closer ties with customers, he added.
The company has not missed out on opportunities in robotics, as it has secured cooperation with government agencies and begun production of wheeled, dual-arm humanoid robots for smart manufacturing, Yin said.
The company would disclose further details should it move into mass production at a later stage, he said.
Meanwhile, Inventec Appliances posted strong performance last year, driven by its Vietnamese plant, chairman David Ho (何代水) said at the event.
The company has begun construction of a second factory in Vietnam, which is expected to be completed and begin operations by the end of this year, Ho said.
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