Intel and AMD low-power processors not price competitive with ARM, say notebook makers

Feb 8, 01:25

While Intel and AMD have been making efforts to develop low power processors for use in smartphones and tablet PCs, they cannot compete with solutions from ARM in terms of price, according to notebook makers.

Intel promotes two executives to senior vice president

Feb 3, 14:28

Intel has announced that its board of directors has promoted Mooly Eden and Richard Taylor to the position of senior vice president.

Motherboard prices to hike by 10% at end of 1Q12

Feb 3, 01:05

Motherboard vendors including Asustek Computer and Gigabyte Technology, in response to increases in the international price of copper and labor costs in China, are expected to hike their prices by about 10% as early as the end of the first quarter of 2012, according to industry sources.

Motherboard shipments of Taiwan players from 2006-2012

Feb 1, 14:49

Taiwan's motherboard industry remains dominated by four main players – Asustek Computer, Micro-Star International (MSI), Gigabyte Technology and Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) – who hold the majority share of own-brand and channel market shipments.

Taiwan December export order value down slightly

Jan 20, 16:42

Taiwan received export orders worth US$36.31 billion in December 2011, decreasing 0.94% on month and 0.72% on year, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) on January 20.

Intel reports record US$54 billion in annual revenues

Jan 20, 12:10

Intel has reported full-year revenues of US$54 billion, operating income of US$17.5 billion, net income of US$12.9 billion and EPS of US$2.39, all company records. The company generated approximately US$21 billion in cash from operations, paid dividends of US$4.1 billion and used US$14.1 billion to...

Acer, Asustek, Lenovo to offer Thunderbolt ultrabook PCs in 2Q12

Jan 20, 11:27

Acer, Asustek Computer and Lenovo are expected to offer ultrabooks based on Intel's Ivy Bridge platform which supports Thunderbolt in the second quarter of 2012, while Gigabyte Technology will take the initiative to offer Thunderbolt-enabled motherboards, according to industry sources.

Competition in motherboard segment remains keen in 2012, says paper

Newswatch - Jan 18, 16:27

While some industry watchers have estimated the motherboard industry is heading for a small growth of 5% in shipments in 2012, Taiwan-based first-tier makers will continue to compete neck-and-neck in the segment as gross margins generated from the sale of motherboards have been higher than those gained...

Asustek expected to suffer 20% on-quarter decline in 1Q12 revenues

Jan 17, 01:10

Asustek Computer is expected to see on-quarter revenues drop of 20% in the first quarter of 2012 with the amount drop to only NT$80 billion (US$2.67 billion) from about NT$100 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011 mainly due to drop in notebook performance, according to market watchers.

Wintel tablet PCs may be priced from US$599-899

Jan 16, 16:36

Wintel-based tablet PCs may see their prices go as high as US$599-899 due to Intel and Microsoft both being unwilling to drop their related hardware and software quotes, and as a result, it could push consumers from wanting to purchase the devices, according to sources from notebook vendors.

China market: Some China-based motherboard vendors to withdraw due to hiked labor costs

Jan 13, 15:26

Under pressure of continued hikes in labor costs in China, at least half of the China-based motherboard vendors are expected to withdraw from the market in 2012, leaving an estimated combined shipment volume of three million motherboards available for competition to share by the main Taiwan-based vendors,...

ASRock aims to ship 10 million motherboards in 2012

Jan 13, 01:10

ASRock has set a goal of shipping 10 million motherboards in 2012, increasing by 28.2% from 2011, according to the company.

VIA, SiS achieve results from non-PC industry

Jan 12, 01:05

Taiwan-base chipset makers VIA Technologies and Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS), although already phasing out of the PC chipset market, have both entered different markets and achieved results in those industries.

CES 2012: Intel takes ultrabooks further down the tablet path, says IHS

Jan 11, 16:50

Intel at CES 2012 has demonstrated a prototype ultrabook dubbed Nikiski that features a transparent touch pad panel allowing tablet-style operation. The advent of the Nikiski represents the first wave of what promises to be a deluge of tablet-style ultrabooks designed to stave off the inroads of Apple's...

SuperSpeed USB-enabled device shipments to top one billion in 2014, says In-Stat

Jan 11, 15:02

SuperSpeed USB-enabled device shipments are on a fast track and will surpass one billion in 2014, up from 70 million in 2011, according to In-Stat.

VIA refutes report about being acquired by China telecom carrier

Jan 10, 01:25

VIA Technologies, commenting about a recent report stated that China-based telecom carrier Datang Telecom Technology (DTT) has recently discussed with VIA chairman Cher Wang the acquisition of VIA, said the report is completely untrue.

Asustek announces revenues for 2011; conservative about 1Q12 performance

Jan 10, 01:15

Asustek Computer has announced consolidated revenues of NT$30.5 billion (US$1.01 billion) for December of 2011, down 25% on month, while consolidated results reached NT$100 billion for the fourth quarter of 2011, a slight drop on quarter, and NT$350 billion for 2011, a new historical record.

Asustek X79 series motherboards attain global market share of 70%

Jan 9, 10:13

Asustek Computer's X79 series motherboards have attained a global market share of 70% for motherboard models equipped with Intel X79 Express chipset, according to the company.

IPC maker Ibase establishes subsidiary for game machines

Jan 5, 11:44

IPC maker Ibase Technology has established a subsidiary to handle the development of gaming machines. The new subsidiary, established in December 2011 with a capital of about NT$190 million (US$6.28 million), also handles orders for products whose assembly is complicated.

Asustek going Android, Acer eyeing Windows 8 for tablet PC market

Jan 5, 01:15

Acer, after refuting rumors about plans to phase out of the tablet PC and smartphone markets, has adjusted strategies for its tablet PC business and will focus on a Windows-based model in the future, while Asustek Computer will continue to put its focus on Android-based models and is currently evaluating...

Advantech takes full control of Advansus

Jan 4, 16:03

Taiwan-based industrial PC maker Advantech has announced that it has acquired Pegatron Technology's 50% stake in Advansus Computer to take full control of the joint venture.

Intel discontinuing over 25 desktop CPUs, say sources

Jan 4, 12:07

To pave the way for the upcoming launch of 22nm Ivy Bridge processors in April 2012, Intel has notified its hardware partners of its schedule for stopping the supply or production of over 25 existing desktop CPU models, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

Intel to announce 40 new server processors in 1H12

Jan 3, 01:25

Intel is set to launch 40 new processors including those for its upcoming Romley platform, in the first half of 2012 with the company to release 20 models each quarter, according to sources from server players.

Asustek to reduce motherboard production volume for 1Q12

Jan 3, 01:20

Asustek Computer has recently reduced its motherboard production volume from 5-6 million units each quarter previously to only 3-3.5 million units in the first quarter of 2012 to help digest the company's inventory from the fourth quarter of 2011, according to sources from upstream component makers.

Romley expected to spur replacement of servers, but subject to global economic situation and HDD supply

Dec 30, 15:24

Intel will launch its new server platform Romley in March 2012, which is expected to cause enterprises to replace servers as early as the second half of 2012, according to industry sources in Taiwan. However, the extent of server replacement depends on global economic situation and supply of hard disk...

China market: Asustek, Gigabyte together may share 60% of motherboard sales in 2012

Dec 30, 01:00

Taiwan-based vendor Asustek Computer and Gigabyte Technology aim to ship 10.0 million and 8.0 million motherboards, respectively, in the China market, together accounting for 60% of a projected 30.0 million motherboards to be sold there in 2012, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

Intel to launch Medfield platform in 2Q12, Clover Trail-W platform in 4Q12

Dec 29, 14:16

Intel plans to launch its Medfield platform running on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) OS in the second quarter of 2012 and then release its Clover Trail-W platform running on Windows 8 in the fourth quarter of the year.

Intel to unveil 22nm Ivy Bridge processors on April 8, say Taiwan PC makers

Dec 28, 16:48

Intel plans to release a total of 25 models of its 22nm Ivy Bridge processors, including 17 CPUs for desktops and eight for notebooks and ultrabooks on or around April 8, 2012, according to PC makers in Taiwan.

Gigabyte fixing problems associated with defective BIOS design in X79 motherboards

Dec 28, 15:52

Gigabyte Technology, in response to questions concerning a defective BIOS design in its X79-series motherboards, has offered remedies including recall of certain versions of X79 motherboards, replacements with upgraded BIOS and lifetime maintenance warranty for related models, according to the compa...

Intel adjusts Atom development focus, say sources

Dec 26, 12:19

Intel reportedly plans to launch new members of its Atom CPU-lineup for network-attached storage devices and entry-level servers in the second quarter of 2012, according to industry sources.

Atom bomb does not detonate Intel CPU business in 3Q11, says IHS

Dec 23, 12:04

Despite a plunge in sales of its Atom chips destined for the moribund netbook market, Intel in the third quarter managed to expand its leadership position in the global microprocessor business on the strength of its corporate sales.

ASRock aims at shipments of 10 million motherboards in 2012

Dec 23, 01:15

ASRock, a Taiwan-based maker of motherboards for sale under the own brand ASRock, has set target shipments of 10 million motherboards for 2012, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

Intel drops Sandy Bridge CPU prices

Dec 22, 01:10

Intel has recently notified its partners of plans to reduce prices of the existing Sandy Bridge-based processors with some Core i3 and i5 series processors to see a drop of 10-15%, according to sources from notebook players.

AMD updates A-series APUs

Dec 21, 16:34

AMD has updated its A-series lineup of desktop and notebook accelerated processing units (APUs), further improving its family of dual- and quad-core APUs. Along with speed and performance improvements, AMD Steady Video update make this unique feature more compelling. For desktop users, AMD extends...

Processor firms outpace industry growth in 2011, Gartner says

Dec 20, 14:17

Processor suppliers Intel, Qualcomm, AMD and Nvidia outperformed the rest of the semiconductor industry in 2011, Gartner wrote in its recent report. Worldwide semiconductor revenues grew 0.9% to US$302 billion in 2011, according to preliminary results by the market research firm.

Asustek outsources motherboard orders to Cal-Comp Electronics

Dec 20, 01:10

Asustek Computer has recently added Taiwan-based Cal-Comp Electronics, an affiliate of Compal Electronics, as its motherboard manufacturing partner and is expected to outsource 5-6 million motherboards to Cal-Comp in 2012, out of Asustek's total shipment forecast of 24.5 million units for 2012, according...

Nvidia to set up China R&D center of Tegra-based automotive electronics with Foxconn

Dec 19, 14:00

Nvidia president and CEO Huang Jen-hsun on December 16 signed with Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (TEDA) for establishing an R&D center of automotive information/entertainment electronic modules based on Tegra processors through partnership with Taiwan-based Foxconn Electronics...

Intel 4Q11 revenues to be below expectations due to HDD supply shortages

Dec 13, 12:06

Intel has announced that the company's fourth-quarter results are expected to be below the company's previous outlook due to hard disk drive (HDD) supply shortages. The company now expects fourth-quarter revenues to be US$13.7 billion, plus or minus US$300 million, on both a GAAP and non-GAAP basis,...

Taiwan vendors to play minor role in Windows On Arm development

Dec 5, 16:02

Microsoft has recently decided the downstream partners for its development of the Windows on Arm (WOA) platform with Taiwan-based vendors only invited to play minor roles in the project, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.