Supermicro, a major server manufacturer, is facing potential delisting after failing to submit its financial report on time. Previously, the Economic Daily News reported that the company had halted expansion of its Malaysia plant. However, in response to inquiries from the Central News Agency, Supermicro clarified that its plans for the Malaysia facility remain unchanged, with production set to commence by the end of this year, and emphasized that customer orders are “still robust.”

According to the Economic Daily News, Supermicro’s Malaysia plant was originally scheduled to come online in the fourth quarter, doubling the company’s production capacity. However, amid financial turmoil, the project has been temporarily delayed. In response, YTL Group, a key client in Malaysia with close ties to Nvidia, has shifted its AI server orders to Wiwynn’s Malaysia facility, a subsidiary of Wistron, for local support.

When asked about the potential order transfer due to the Supermicro incident, Wistron declined to comment on individual clients and products.

In a written statement to the Central News Agency, Supermicro reiterated, “As previously announced, our Malaysia facility is on track to commence production and shipping by the end of 2024. This plan remains unchanged.”

Supermicro further noted, “We continue to secure substantial business in Malaysia within a highly competitive market, meeting all approved orders on schedule, and customer demand remains strong.”

Founded in 1993 by Taiwanese CEO Charles Liang, Supermicro has benefited from the AI boom, posting exponential growth in revenue each of the past three quarters. However, it missed its financial reporting deadline amid media reports in late September alleging accounting issues, now under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.

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• [News] Supermicro’s Financial Crisis Shifts Malaysia’s YTL Group Order to Taiwanese Firm

(Photo credit: Supermicro)

According to a report by Economic Daily News, Supermicro’s ongoing financial crisis has reportedly led to the suspension of its planned expansion at its Malaysia facility, which was set to double its production capacity. This disruption has prompted Supermicro’s major client, Malaysia’s largest conglomerate and a top NVIDIA AI server buyer, YTL Group, to shift its substantial AI data center order.

The same report indicates that YTL Group is now turning to Wistron Group’s Malaysian subsidiary, Wiwynn, for nearby support to fulfill the order, which involves substantial deliveries of NVIDIA’s high-end GB200 NVL72 full-rack servers.

Industry insiders cited by Economic Daily News previously speculated that NVIDIA would lead any order reallocation; however, this shift originates from Supermicro’s client, YTL Group, whose choice of Wiwynn is strategic. Wiwynn’s plant is situated near Supermicro’s new facility in Malaysia, offering a geographical advantage and boasting robust AI server capabilities.

YTL Group has strong ties with NVIDIA. In March, YTL Power, a subsidiary of YTL Group, announced a partnership with NVIDIA to install DGX GB200 NVL72 AI server systems, aiming to establish a green AI data center in Johor, Malaysia.

Originally, YTL’s sizable AI data center project was to be shared between Supermicro and Wiwynn. Supermicro’s Johor plant was expected to double capacity with a new line in Q4, but this plan has been delayed due to financial issues. Wiwynn’s nearby plant has also been expanding, enhancing its one-stop manufacturing services and adding advanced cooling technologies such as direct liquid cooling and immersion cooling to handle the redirected order.

Supermicro CEO Charles Liang, speaking at COMPUTEX 2024, previously unveiled the company’s ambitious Malaysia expansion, aiming to double its output to 10,000 server racks per month by Q4. With the expansion now halted, orders have shifted to Wiwynn.

Wiwynn’s new plant in Johor began assembling server racks last October, and a second phase focusing on motherboard production is expected to go online later this year, with potential plans for a third plant.

Economic Daily News reports that Johor, Malaysia’s largest data center investment hub and the ninth-largest in the Asia-Pacific, currently hosts 13 data centers, with four more under construction. The region’s affordable land, water, and power resources, along with its proximity to Singapore, have drawn multinational companies such as Australia’s AirTrunk and Microsoft, which recently acquired land in Johor for a new data center.

(Photo credit: YTL Power)

TSMC founder Morris Chang is about to release the second volume of his autobiography. According to Economic Daily News, in this second volume of his autobiography, Chang reveals that he once considered inviting NVIDIA founder Jensen Huang to take on the role of TSMC’s CEO in 2013.

This decision detail has immediately sparked widespread discussion in the industry. According to the report from Economic Daily News, the book’s chapter list shows that after appointing C.C. Wei, Mark Liu, and Shang-Yi Chiang as COOs in 2012, Chang approached Huang the following year to gauge his interest in leading TSMC.

Although Huang ultimately chose to continue leading NVIDIA, this historical moment highlights Chang’s high regard for his leadership abilities.

The report from Economic Daily News indicated that TSMC and NVIDIA have collaborated closely in the AI and high-performance computing fields, achieving significant commercial success and establishing themselves as key partners in the tech supply chain.

According to a report in Commercial Times, the partnership between NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang and TSMC’s Morris Chang began after a phone call, when the 32-year-old Huang reached out to Chang. NVIDIA was a young startup, and Huang was unsure if TSMC would collaborate with them. To his surprise, Chang personally called NVIDIA, and that call, answered by Huang, initiated a partnership that has endured for over 20 years.

Chang and Huang are often celebrated as intergenerational friends, admired for their insights into the technology industry and mutual respect for each other’s corporate cultures.

Huang has consistently emphasized the profound influence of Chang’s insights on his own approach to the industry, recognizing Chang as the godfather of Taiwan’s technology industry. According to a CNA report, when Morris Chang received the K.T. Li Award, Jensen Huang traveled from the U.S. to Taiwan specifically to attend the ceremony and personally congratulate him. Huang remarked that NVIDIA was built on the foundation laid by TSMC, stating that without TSMC, NVIDIA would not exist.

Chang has also expressed mutual respect for Huang. According to the report from Economic Daily News, in recent public appearances, he has frequently referenced Huang’s viewpoints and even endorsed his remarks on Intel’s entry into semiconductor foundry services, highlighting their shared perspectives on industry trends and the deep friendship that underpins their collaboration.

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• [News] TSMC Founder Morris Chang to Release Autobiography in November, Highlighting His Life at TI and TSMC
• [News] Jensen Huang Clarifies No Tension with TSMC After Blackwell AI Chip Design Flaw

(Photo credit: TechNews)

Supermicro, a major beneficiary of the AI boom, saw its stock plunge after Ernst & Young resigned as its auditor, raising market concerns. According to a report from Liberty Times, citing Chinese media outlet Cailian Press, NVIDIA, which has close ties to Supermicro, is shifting orders that were previously directed to Supermicro to other suppliers in order to avoid market disruptions.

According to the report, Supermicro’s competitors, GIGABYTE and ASRock, have benefited from the order transfer, seeing an increase in new orders and customer inquiries.

On October 30th, Supermicro announced that Ernst & Young, one of the Big Four accounting firms, had severed ties with the company. In its resignation letter, Ernst & Young stated that it was “unwilling to be associated with the financial statements prepared by management” and could “no longer rely on management’s and the Audit Committee’s representations” regarding their relationship with Supermicro.

The report noted that this statement caused Supermicro’s share price to drop sharply, plunging 32% that day. The company is now facing the risk of delisting.

Previously, on August 27, Supermicro was accused of accounting violations, inadequate disclosure of related party transactions, and evading sanctions by selling products to Russia by Hindenburg Research. The following day, Supermicro also announced a delay in submitting its 2024 fiscal year 10-K annual report.

According to a report from Wall Street Journal in late September, Supermicro was under the investigation of the U.S. Department of Justice.

The report from Liberty Times citing Cailian Press indicated that if the rumors about NVIDIA’s order transfer turn out to be true, it would undoubtedly be a further blow to the troubled firm.

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• [News] Supermicro Denies Short-Selling Claims, as its CEO Responds for the First Time After the Controversy
• [News] Taiwanese Supply Chain to Benefit from Supermicro’s Order Withdrawal, with Dell and HP as Potential Beneficiaries

(Photo credit: Supermicro)

While introducing the industry’s first 48GB 16-high HBM3E at SK AI Summit in Seoul today, South Korean memory giant SK hynix has reportedly seen strong demand for its next-gen HBM. According to reports by Reuters and South Korean media outlet ZDNet, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang requested SK hynix to accelerate the supply of HBM4 by six months.

The information was disclosed by SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won earlier today at the SK AI Summit, according to the reports. In October, the company said that it planned to deliver the chips to customers in the second half of 2025, according to the reports.

When asked by ZDNet about HBM4’s accelerated timetable, SK hynix President Kwak Noh-Jung responded by saying “We will give it a try.”

A spokesperson for SK hynix cited by Reuters noted that this new timeline is quicker than their original target, but did not provide additional details.

According to ZDNet, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang also made his appearance in a video interview at the Summit, stating that by collaborating with SK hynix, NVIDIA has been able to achieve progress beyond Moore’s Law, and the company will continue to need more of SK hynix’s HBM in the future.

According to the third-quarter financial report released by SK hynix in late October, the company posted record-breaking figures, including revenues of 17.5731 trillion won, an operating profit of 7.03 trillion won (with an operating margin of 40%), and a net profit of 5.7534 trillion won (with a net margin of 33%) for the third quarter of this year.

In particular, HBM sales showed excellent growth, up more than 70% from the previous quarter and more than 330% from the same period last year.

SK hynix is indeed making strides in its HBM, as it started mass production of the world’s first 12-layer HBM3E product with 36GB in September. It has also been developing 48GB 16-high HBM3E in a bid to secure technological stability and plans to provide samples to customers early next year, according to the company’s press release.

On the other hand, according to another report by Business Korea, Kim Jae-jun, Vice President of the Memory Business Division, stated In the earnings call that the company is mass-producing and selling both HBM3E 8-stack and 12-stack products, and have completed key stages of the quality testing process for a major customer. Though Kim did not specify the identity of the major customer, industry analysts suggest it is likely NVIDIA.

To shorten the technology gap with SK hynix, Samsung is reportedly planning to produce the next-generation HBM4 products in the latter half of next year.

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• [News] SK hynix Introduces World’s First 16-High HBM3E, Providing Samples in Early 2025
• [News] SK hynix Reportedly to Tape-out HBM4 in October, Paving the Way for NVIDIA’s Rubin

(Photo credit: NVIDIA)