Cloud computing equipment supplier Wiwynn Corp (緯穎科技) on Thursday said it expects revenue this year to exceed last year’s level, as shipments of new servers based on application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) and graphics processing units (GPU) are set to begin in the second half of this year.
Shipments of both platforms are expected to drive growth and raise the share of artificial intelligence (AI) revenue this year, Wiwynn chairwoman Emily Hong (洪麗甯) told an online earnings conference.
Revenue from AI servers this year is expected to remain dominated by ASIC orders, while on the GPU side, the company is shifting its focus to Nvidia Corp’s next-generation servers, Hong said.
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Wiwynn is positive about orders for its ASIC-based AI servers and general-purpose servers this quarter, as order momentum is expected to support stable year-on-year growth, company CEO and president William Lin (林威遠) said.
Meanwhile, as customers increasingly separate AI workloads from general computing due to cost considerations, demand for general-purpose servers has risen, giving Wiwynn strong visibility into shipment growth for such systems, Lin said.
Shipments of general-purpose servers this year are expected to exceed last year’s level, with year-on-year growth projected in each quarter, he said.
Last year, AI servers and general-purpose servers each accounted for about half of the company’s revenue, Lin said.
Within the AI segment, servers powered by ASICs made up about 90 percent of the revenue, he added.
This year, AI servers are expected to account for more than half of the company’s total revenue, Lin said.
For the second half of this year, Wiwynn has not only secured new ASIC-based server orders, but also those powered by GPUs from Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices Inc, he said.
The recent surge in memory prices has had little effect on Wiwynn’s profitability so far, despite memory accounting for about 30 percent of the bill of materials (BOMs) for its general-purpose servers — a share that could rise further if prices continue climbing, he said.
Memory accounts for a relatively small share of AI server BOM costs, as such systems are already pricy, and the company has secured sufficient memory supply through at least next quarter, Lin said.
Wiwynn is expanding production capacity in Taiwan, Malaysia, Mexico and the US, with output from its new Texas plant going online last quarter and mass production expected to begin in the first half of this year, he said.
The company’s capital expenditure this year is expected to rise significantly from NT$13 billion (US$415.99 million) last year to meet AI demand, he said.
To cope with increases in operating funds as the cost of producing server racks surges, as are costs for components such as memory chips, Wiwynn is adjusting its cash dividend distribution approach this year, Hong said.
Wiwynn’s board on Thursday approved its first dividend policy combining cash and stock payouts, with a cash dividend of NT$145 per share and a stock dividend of NT$20 per share for last year.
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