Last year, the Taiwan IT fair 'Computex' was dubbed a war of stars as global semiconductor corporations' chief executive officers (CEOs) gathered together amid the AI PC craze. This year, it is drawing attention with an impressive lineup.
Jensen Huang, the CEO of NVIDIA, will deliver a keynote address again this year, following last year's event, and it is reported that Intel's new leader, CEO Lip-Bu Tan, is also scheduled to attend. However, Samsung Electronics, which was expected to return after 9 years, is reported to be absent once again.
According to the industry on the 3rd, CEO Huang is expected to give a keynote address at the Taiwan Taipei Music Center on the 19th of next month (local time), the day before the 'Computex 2025' event opens. He is expected to unveil NVIDIA's next-generation AI solutions and vision at this event. In addition to CEO Huang, Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm; Liu Yangwei, chairman of Foxconn; and Rick Tsai, CEO of MediaTek, will also take the stage to introduce their AI strategies.
Held annually in Taiwan, Computex has grown to become Asia's largest IT fair since its first event in 1981. Last year's event featured CEOs from AMD, ARM, Qualcomm, and Intel along with CEO Huang. This year, it will take place from the 20th to the 23rd of next month under the theme 'AI Next,' with 1,400 global IT corporations participating and showcasing new technologies centered around three key themes: 'smart computing and robotics,' 'next-generation technologies,' and 'future mobility.'
This year, CEO Huang is also expected to be in the spotlight at Computex. An American Taiwanese, CEO Huang moved to the U.S. at the age of 9, but has expressed deep affection for Taiwan, considering it his hometown. During last year's keynote address, he engaged the audience by occasionally speaking briefly in Taiwanese and reminiscing about his childhood while exploring the Taiwanese market.
The industry observes that Computex, previously evaluated as a 'fading exhibition' post-COVID-19, has become the mecca of AI PCs, leading the AI semiconductor and PC boom through NVIDIA's active participation. An electronics industry insider noted, "Once a center for PC manufacturing and components, Taiwan has drifted away from being the hub of the electronics and IT industry after the PC market entered a long stagnation. However, as TSMC begins to dominate the AI semiconductor space and the PC industry starts to rebound, it is emerging once again as the center of Asia."
In Korea, SK hynix is set to participate in the event for the second consecutive year following last year's attendance. During the previous event, SK hynix showcased various AI solutions, including HBM3E and DDR5-based CXL memory modules (CMM). This year, numerous products enhanced for AI performance, such as HBM4, are expected to be exhibited.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that Samsung Electronics will also not participate in this year's event. Initially, there was anticipation in the industry for their participation for the first time in 9 years since 2016, setting up a standalone booth and hoping for meetings with global companies like NVIDIA. As the importance of the Taiwanese AI ecosystem continues to grow, there were expectations for expanding business collaborations, but it appears they ultimately decided not to attend. The industry interprets this as a sign that they have not yet found significant cooperation points related to supplying high-bandwidth memory (HBM) to major customers, including NVIDIA.