- The Emergence of a New Battleground: Intel Versus AMD in AI Workstations
- NVIDIA's Strategy: Dominating AI Through Ecosystem, Access, and Interconnect
- Qualcomm's AI Strategy: Leveraging Connectivity Legacy Across Edge AI, Capturing AI PC Market Share, and a Foray into Data Center via NVLink Fusion
As we gear up for COMPUTEX 2025, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Personal Computer (PC) narrative, which saturated the 2024 show with its narrow focus on Terra-Operations per Second (TOPS) and vendor benchmarking battles between Intel, AMD, and, increasingly, Qualcomm, remains under pressure to mature. The 2024 drive for raw performance was the first step, providing Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) with platforms for developing AI applications. The 2025 spotlight must shift toward genuine user experience and productivity enhancement. We'll be scrutinizing how the next wave of silicon, beyond simply meeting Microsoft's Copilot+ thresholds, enables applications that move beyond impressive but limited Proofs of Concept (PoCs) like stable diffusion demos. The key will be whether developers, armed with more robust tools and access to runtimes like Copilot+, can finally deliver the innovative, everyday creativity and productivity boosters that actually justify widespread device upgrades.
Beyond the PC, the on-device AI frontier will continue its expansion, particularly within smartphones, demanding sophisticated local processing for privacy and real-time Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI).
Concurrently, the AI server segment will remain a white-hot topic: Taiwan is home to the world’s leading Original Device Manufacturers (ODMs), such as Foxconn, GIGABYTE, MiTAC, and Quanta. Expect an increased focus on compute densification, and the development of liquid cooling solutions to support the enormous power load of today’s and tomorrow’s racks. Behind NVIDIA's formidable lead, we’ll see intensified efforts from Intel, with its aggressively priced Gaudi platform, and AMD, with its strong Instinct roadmap and ZT Systems’ acquisition (which will influence reference designs of large-scale clusters). A critical watchpoint will be the open standards for the scale-up and scale-out of data center AI compute, such as UALink and Ultra Ethernet, respectively, which will impact tomorrow’s greenfield AI data center deployments. How this value chain interacts with the vendors supplying the power and extracting the heat from these operations is also key—talent shortages and the rapid pace of innovation mean that enablement matters, whether in the form of modular end-to-end solutions or professional services.
Looming over this technological advancement will be the persistent impact of U.S. tariffs and uncertain global trade dynamics, forcing ongoing discussions around supply chain diversification, which may impact Taiwan’s competitiveness as a manufacturing base.
COMPUTEX 2025 will offer a crucial litmus test: how effectively the industry translates the demand for AI underscoring the fierce silicon competition observed in 2024 into tangible, valuable, and scalable AI applications. Connect with me in Taipei to discuss the latest industry trends and implications for technology decision-makers.
