According to a report by Taiwan’s Economic Daily, a trend is taking shape as computer brand manufacturers venture into the AI server market. Notably swift on this path are Taiwan’s ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, and MITAC. All four companies hold a positive outlook on the potential of AI server-related business, with expectations of reaping benefits starting in the latter half of this year and further enhancing their business contributions next year.

Presently, significant bulk orders for AI servers are stemming from large-scale cloud service providers (CSPs), which has also presented substantial opportunities for major electronic manufacturing services (EMS) players like Wistron and Quanta that have an early foothold in server manufacturing. As the popularity of generative AI surges, other internet-based enterprises, medical institutions, academic bodies, and more are intensifying their procurement of AI servers, opening doors for brand server manufacturers to tap into this burgeoning market.

ASUS asserts that with the sustained growth of data center/CSP server operations in recent years, the company’s internal production capacity is primed for action, with AI server business projected to at least double in growth by next year. Having established a small assembly plant in California, USA, and repurposing their Czech Republic facility from a repair center to a PC manufacturing or server assembly line, ASUS is actively expanding its production capabilities.

In Taiwan, investments are also being made to bolster server manufacturing capabilities. ASUS ‘s Shulin factory has set up a dedicated server assembly line, while the Luzhu plant in Taoyuan is slated for reconstruction to produce low-volume, high-complexity servers and IoT devices, expected to come online in 2024.

Gigabyte covers the spectrum of server products from L6 to L10, with a focus this year on driving growth in HPC and AI servers. Gigabyte previously stated that servers contribute to around 25% of the company’s revenue, with AI servers already in delivery and an estimated penetration rate of approximately 30% for AI servers equipped with GPUs.

MSI’s server revenue stands at around NT$5 billion, constituting roughly 2.7% of the company’s total revenue. While MSI primarily targets small and medium-sized customers with security and networking servers, the company has ventured into the AI server market with servers equipped with GPUs such as the NVIDIA RTX 4080/4090. In response to the surging demand for NVIDIA A100 and H100 AI chips, MSI plans to invest resources, with server revenue expected to grow by 20% to NT$6 billion in 2024, with AI servers contributing 10% to server revenue.

MITAC ‘s server business encompasses both OEM and branding. With MITAC’s takeover of Intel’s Data Center Solutions Group (DSG) business in July, the company inherited numerous small and medium-sized clients that were previously under Intel’s management.

(Photo credit: ASUS)

Following Saudi Arabia’s $13 billion investment, the UK government is dedicating £100 million (about $130 million) to acquire thousands of NVIDIA AI chips, aiming to establish a strong global AI foothold. Potential beneficiaries include Wistron, GIGABYTE, Asia Vital Components, and Supermicro.

Projections foresee a $150 billion AI application opportunity within 3-5 years, propelling the semiconductor market to $1 trillion by 2030. Taiwan covers the full industry value chain. Players like TSMC, Alchip, GUC, Auras, Asia Vital Components, SUNON, EMC, Unimicron, Delta, and Lite-On are poised to gain.

Reports suggest the UK is in advanced talks with NVIDIA for up to 5,000 GPU chips, but models remain undisclosed. The UK government recently engaged with chip giants NVIDIA, Supermicro, Intel, and others through the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to swiftly acquire necessary resources for Prime Minister Sunak’s AI development initiative. Critics question the adequacy of the £100 million investment in NVIDIA chips, urging Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to allocate more funds to support the AI project.

NVIDIA’s high-performance GPU chips have gained widespread use in AI fields. Notably, the AI chatbot ChatGPT relies heavily on NVIDIA chips to meet substantial computational demands. The latest iteration of AI language model, GPT-4, requires a whopping 25,000 NVIDIA chips for training. Consequently, experts contend that the quantity of chips procured by the UK government is notably insufficient.

Of the UK’s £1 billion investment in supercomputing and AI, £900 million is for traditional supercomputers, leaving £50 million for AI chip procurement. The budget recently increased from £70 million to £100 million due to global chip demand.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE also ordered thousands of NVIDIA AI chips, and Saudi Arabia’s order includes at least 3,000 of the latest H100 chips. Prime Minister Sunak’s AI initiative begins next summer, aiming for a UK AI chatbot like ChatGPT and AI tools for healthcare and public services.

As emerging AI applications proliferate, countries are actively competing in the race to bolster AI data centers, turning the acquisition of AI-related chips into an alternative arms race. Compal said, “An anticipate significant growth in the AI server sector in 2024, primarily within hyperscale data centers, with a focus on European expansion in the first half of the year and a shift toward the US market in the latter half.”

NVIDIA’s robust financial report reveals the true impact of AI on the technology industry, particularly in the AI server supply chain. …