A surge in demand for edge AI devices is generating opportunities for Taiwan-based IC design houses.
ChatGPT has hyped up AI applications, but at present only major computing chip vendors will benefit directly from ChatGPT-generated business opportunities. Taiwanese IC design houses will hardly have a share in the short term, industry sources said.
But Taiwanese firms and their counterparts in the US and Europe are turning their attention to edge AI, which offers a wider range of applications. Edge AI business opportunities are something that Taiwanese IC design houses cannot afford to miss, the sources said.
The scope of edge AI is very broad, but basically it covers anything that operates beyond the cloud AI, and does not need to be connected to the cloud for AI computing, the sources said. AI functions are expected to be widely adopted by consumer electronics, the sources said.
For example, the AI functions in handsets, notebooks and wearables will drive chip spec upgrades or new demand for chips, the sources said.
Furthermore, AIoT applications for smart home and smart factory scenarios will also need more chip support and solutions. These applications offer a lot more market potentials than cloud AI, the sources stressed.
However, as edge AI applications may involve highly complicated use scenarios, clients generally hope that chip suppliers can provide turnkey solutions that may include software, algorithm support and information security features, the sources said.
In order to cater for such demands, US and European IDMs and Taiwanese IC design houses have been keen to recruit related talent in recent years, the sources said, citing NXP indicating that the company has more engineers for software than for hardware.
Novatek's SoCs and ASICs have managed to penetrate more AI applications. Himax has a strong focus on image recognition AI applications, and has unveiled its WiseEye AI solution that can identify and distinguish humans from other objects.
