OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman and Nvidia Corp. CEO Jensen Huang met with senior Biden administration officials and other industry leaders at the White House, where they discussed steps to address massive infrastructure needs for artificial intelligence projects.
In the AI computing era, nearly all leading developers of large language models (LLMs) are racing to stockpile Nvidia GPUs. According to TechInsights, Nvidia dominated the data center GPU market in 2023, commanding a 98% share and leaving a mere 2% for its competitors.
Csun Manufacturing has transitioned from producing constant temperature ovens and automatic exposure machines to becoming a semiconductor equipment supplier, focusing on wafer foundry and advanced packaging process tools. The market's interest extends beyond Csun's order volume to its long-term strategy, including the company's succession plan.
RISC-V, according to Frankwell Lin, chairman of Andes Technology and chairperson of Taiwan's RISC-V Alliance, provides a variety of advantages, such as flexibility and openness, in contrast to the x86 and Arm architectures. Meta and Nvidia are among the numerous vendors that have invested in developing RISC-V processors.
Sitting next to a stranger on the train might lead to a great conversation, but that wasn't the experience for the main character in the film Patterns. The beauty of the world can only be perceived by the main character when he puts on his noise-canceling headphones. The headphones "turn off" the surrounding sounds: the loud guy on his phone, the chewing sound from a starving person, the hand clapping from an excited teenager, and so on. When he blocks the noise, the world becomes colorful again. He sees his loved one smiling at him.
Chinese brand vendors are actively working to capitalize on the substantial increase in AI smartphone sales in the domestic market. Market research surveys reveal that current consumer expectations for AI smartphones are not universally high. While only half of global consumers are paying close attention to AI functions and factoring them into their smartphone purchasing decisions, in China, consumer interest in AI smartphones reaches an impressive 80%.
At Apple's product launch event on September 10, the company dedicated a segment of the presentation to announce that Tencent's latest game, "Honor of Kings: World" is scheduled to launch on iOS in 2025. This move has been interpreted as a potential sign of easing tensions between Apple and Tencent, which have previously engaged in several disputes over commission rates.
Apple unveiled its AI feature, Apple Intelligence, at its product launch event on September 10, announcing a US rollout in October. However, support for languages such as Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish won't be available until 2025. With no major hardware or appearance changes, the impact of Apple Intelligence on market demand remains uncertain. Supply chain sources indicate that the situation will become clearer in October after the first wave of sales.
Sunrex, a major notebook (NB) keyboard manufacturer and one of Apple's main Magic Keyboard suppliers, has been actively developing products such as touch modules and backlight modules. As brands vigorously promote AI PCs, Sunrex President Ming-Tse Li stated that AI PC keyboards are not significantly different from traditional NB keyboards.
Orient Semiconductor Electronics (OSE), a provider of backend and electronics manufacturing services (EMS), is experiencing strong demand for AI servers and is expected to receive increased orders from memory module manufacturer Kingston Technology, according to industry sources.
China-based Loongson Technology has developed its second-generation GPU series in-house, with computing power four times that of the previous generation.
Chinese GPU maker Biren Technology has recently filed for an upcoming IPO with the Shanghai Securities Regulatory Commission, following in the footsteps of Shanghai Enflame, another China-based AI chip maker that recently initiated an IPO. This move has attracted significant attention, as Biren Technology is on the Entity List published by the US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS).
Major motherboard and graphics card manufacturers in Nvidia's supply chain, including Asustek Computer, Gigabyte Technology, and ASRock, maintained robust sales in August.
With geopolitical tensions increasing, countries have placed even more importance on essential products and supply chains. Nikkei compiled data from several research institutes and conducted market research on important global products and services in 2023, including areas such as AI text and image generators, green energy supply chains including solar panels and wind turbines, as well as semiconductor materials.
Apple recently unveiled the iPhone 16 at its latest event. The most notable hardware update is the introduction of a dedicated camera button, while other changes involve standard updates to the SoC, display, and camera system. Overall, these upgrades are seen as modest, resulting in some consumer disappointment.
Japan-based automotive manufacturer Isuzu Motors (Isuzu) has set an ambitious goal to industrialize Level 4 self-driving trucks and buses by the end of March 2028 at the latest, with plans to launch services in Japan. This initiative is a key component of Isuzu's midterm business strategy. To achieve this objective, Isuzu has been actively funding global AI and autonomous startups since 2023. As of the end of August 2024, the company has announced three partnered projects.
The power conversion demands and power density requirements of data centers are constantly increasing, with materials such as wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductors like silicon carbide (SiC) becoming the core of new-generation power conversion technology.
As the semiconductor industry faces unprecedented demand for cutting-edge technologies, Imec, a global leader in nanoelectronics research, is stepping up as the essential bridge between groundbreaking innovation and commercial success.
Taiwan's trade surplus with the US reached an all-time high of US$42.26 billion in the first eight months of 2024, surpassing the US$35.6 billion total for all of 2023. This significant rise is largely attributed to a surge in AI server exports to the US, according to customs import and export data from the Ministry of Finance (MOF).
Elna Printed Circuits, a subsidiary of PCB manufacturer Global Brands Manufacture (GBM) under Walsin Technology Group, has inaugurated a new PCB facility in Penang, Malaysia.
Benefiting from the sales of hardware products like the iPhone, along with record-setting performances from its services business, Apple is expected to surpass US$400 billion in total revenue for the fiscal year 2024 (closes at the end of September). A major part of this growth will be from the Apple Intelligence platform, which will gradually be integrated across various hardware product categories, potentially driving device upgrades.
Market reactions to Apple Intelligence have been lukewarm after the iPhone 16 launch event, with many noting no significant additions to what had been announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Generally, Apple's AI features have practical uses, but these are still mainly assistive functions such as text processing and image generation, with upgrades to Siri and Visual Intelligence functionality being somewhat more impressive.
All eyes were on Apple's AI efforts during the tech giant's latest product announcement on September 9, but consumers in China are likely to feel disappointed. Apple Intelligence for the iPhone 16 will only launch in October, and the Chinese language support will not arrive until 2025.
