Taiwan Moving into Robotics

EE Times reports Taiwan is aiming to grab a significant slice of the international robotics market. Recent trends have shown increased investment in robotics in Taiwan and some of the bigger players including VIA, MSI and Hon-Hai have moved into the sector. EETimes writes:

At the Taipei International Robot Show (TIROS), which was held in Taiwan from August 21-24, Via Technologies Inc. showed several ''entertainment robots'' based on its boards and chips.

Hon Hai, MSI and other Taiwan concerns are jumped in the arena, which is generating interest on the island. Taiwan's private sector increased its investment of robotics to $192 million in the first half of 2008, up 17 percent from the like period a year ago, according to the Robotics Association Taiwan (ROBOAT).

Taiwan's robot manufacturers are aiming for a share of the global market, which is worth a total of $17 billion annually, according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).

Industrial robots are expected to increase from about 951,000 units by the end of 2006 to 1,173,300 by the end of 2010, representing an average annual growth rate of 5.5 percent, the IFR said.

Robots for entertainment and leisure are poised for even faster growth with projected installations between 2007 and 2010, more than doubling the installed base in 2006 of about 1 million units, according to the IFR. These robots can perform a variety of functions for their human owners including security, maintenance and entertainment. The market data was provided by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council.

This is another example of how Taiwan's tech sector are always on the look out for the next best thing. They are always searching for new opportunities where they can leverage their core strengths in computing product design and development. They did this with the silicon industry, computers and they are now doing this in the solar industry and other sectors. It would not surprise me if in a few years they were the dominant players in this sector.

EETimes: Taiwan glides into robot market

VIA Moving out of Chipset Market

CustomPC writes VIA Technologies (VIA) will exit the third-party chipset market. Chipsets are those devices that connect the processor (CPU) to the memory and other external peripheral devices. VIA have been making chipsets for sometime but now feel the chipset market is fading arguing Intel and AMD are making most of their own chipsets. CustomPC writes:

VIA is now focusing on x86 processors and the integrated motherboard market, rather than chipsets for third-party CPUs.

Previously one of the best chipset makers for enthusiasts looking for high performance on a budget, VIA has told Custom PC that it now sees no future in making chipsets for third parties such as Intel and AMD.

Speaking to Custom PC, VIA’s vice president of corporate marketing in Taiwan, Richard Brown, explained that: ‘One of the main reasons we originally moved into the x86 processor business was because we believed that ultimately the third party chipset market would disappear, and we would need to have the capability to provide a complete platform.’

‘That has indeed come to pass,’ said Brown. He also added that ‘Intel provides the vast majority of chipsets for its processors and, following its purchase of ATI, AMD is also moving very quickly in the same direction.’

As for focusing on the motherboard market they will have to play a big game of catchup. It is a different business and they will be in direct competition with their previous chipset customers and their current processor customers. Additionally, their new processors will be in direct competition with the Intel Atom processor. Intel, however, are old competitors and used to compete with VIA in the chipset market. VIA understand their market segment and it will be interesting to see how they go in the future.

Custom PC: VIA quits motherboard chipset business

VIA's Nano Outperforms Intel's Atom

PC World reports at least three reviewers have found the VIA Nano low-cost processor consistently outperformed the Intel Atom processor. Both processors were designed specifically for low cost PCs which are currently selling out around the world. PC World writes:

Performance comparisons of Via Technologies' Nano processor and Intel's Atom chip conducted by several hardware-enthusiast sites Tuesday confirmed what many industry observers have long suspected: the Taiwanese processor company has produced a chip that outperforms Intel's offering for low-cost computers.

The three reviews are listed below:

• PC Perspective: VIA Nano and Intel Atom Review - Battle of the Tiny CPUs
• Hard OCP: Intel Atom vs.VIA Nano
• Hot Hardware: VIA Nano L2100 vs. Intel Atom 230: Head to Head

This news is interesting. As far as I can tell VIA have been in the low cost CPU game for a long time. I remember when I first started in the technology industry here, VIA were already launching low power processors and people were laughing them off. They were, if I recall correctly, focusing on green technologies at a time when Intel were trying to ramp up their processor speeds. It therefore doesn't surprise too much that the VIA processor currently outperforms the Atom processor. VIA have been in the game for a long time.

However, I do think first, the Atom processor will outsell the VIA processor. The Intel marketing machine is a phenomenal one and they have far more experience than VIA. Secondly, I also think in time the Intel low power processors will get better and outperform the VIA processors. Although VIA will still have a place in the market with their niche processors, I doubt they will gain a dominant position in the low power processor market.

PC World: VIA's Nano Processor Tops Intel's Atom in First Reviews

Low Cost Processors: The Competion Heats Up

On Monday Nvidia launch what they are calling the "world’s first single-chip computer." From their press release:

Today, NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) introduced the Tegra family of processors, the world’s first single-chip computer capable of the rich high definition and internet experiences we’ve come to expect from our PCs, but on small pocket type devices. NVIDIA Tegra is a tiny computer-on-a-chip, smaller than a US dime (10-cent piece), designed from the ground up to enable the “visual PC experience” on a new generation of mobile computing devices while consuming the smallest amount of power.

As many commentators have mentioned, this chip is meant to take on Intel's Atom processor. Atom is a fairly new processor launched a few months ago. Both the Tegra and Atom are aimed at Mobile Internet Devices (MID) e.g. smart phones and PDAs. However, Jack Schofield notes on the Guardian some of the problems associated with the Tegra.

The obvious drawback with the Tegra approach is that it runs Windows CE (or Windows Mobile) not Windows XP, which was written for x86-compatible chips. And if you want to run real Windows software, Tegra doesn't do the job.

More than a decade ago, Microsoft wrote Windows CE as a whole new operating system precisely because it thought x86 chips cost too much for casual buyers, and consumed too much power to offer long battery life. It thought there was a market for Mobile Companions, webpads and other devices among people who didn't actually need the laptop/desktop version of Windows, or its vast library of programs.

Microsoft turned out to be wrong, at the time. It will be interesting to see if times have changed enough to make it right.

Intel's Atom takes the opposite approach of trying to reduce the overhead of the x86 code from the past (smaller, cheaper, lower power consumption). And from Computex, it looks as though the Intel Atom is the one that has pulled in the PC manufacturers.

But this might be the first step by NVIDIA to move towards competing more directly with Intel. A few month's ago at the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai Intel said they were trying to move the graphics core into the processor. This generated an interesting response from the NVIDIA CEO. Eflux Media notes:

NVIDIA CEO and co-founder Jen-Hsun Huang went on an Intel-related rant on Thursday at a meeting with financial analysts. The context is that Intel is trying to move the graphics processing unit (GPU) from the motherboard's chipset into the CPU, merging the two processing units on a single die for increased performance.

Last week at the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai, Intel representatives boldly stated that discrete graphics cards will eventually become "unnecessary" for the regular consumer in the future."

Claim after claim after claim. They're just false. They cross the line of fair play," Huang said. "Here's another one. nVIDIA's gonna be dead. Because we're (Intel) sticking the graphics in the CPU and (nVIDIA) will have no place to stick it," nVIDIA's CEO said.

It certainly seems battle lines are being drawn between these companies. According to Computer World:

"There's a battle emerging here," said Nathan Brookwood, an analyst at research firm Insight 64. "This is going to be a very exciting area. It's perceived to be one with huge growth over the next few years. Everyone is going to want an in if they can pull it off."

Both NVIDIA and Intel make great products. No doubt! However, NVIDIA would be wise to think twice before enaging in a war with Intel. AMD did it over the past three years and although Intel's margins suffered significantly, they were the ones left standing. AMD are now doubting their future and are looking at becoming fabless.

However, with all the current noise being made surrounding NVIDIA and Intel, spare a thought for VIA. VIA were the first ones as I recall to see the potential for low cost processors and have had them in their catalog for quite some time. It just seems people are preferring the Intel Atom processors. To better establish their competitive position VIA have recently launched their own VIA Nano processor which many observers says will also compete with the Atom as well as some of Intel's other low power processors.

This market is heating up and competition seems to be growing. I guess we will know within a year or two who the real winners and losers are. But always remember the words of the VIA CEO who said a few years ago:

The Internet will be the biggest driving force. For Internet applications, the processor is not the main requirement -- the pipe is more important than the engine. It's like the auto industry: It used to be that people build bigger and bigger engines. But the road was only so wide, and car drivers were more limited by the road than by the engine. So people started looking at efficiency of the engine and went to smaller engines.

NVIDIA Press Release: NVIDIA Tegra: Tiny Computer Packs Massive Punch!
Guardian Article: Tegra's ARM-based chip to take on Intel for mobile market
Eflux Media: nVIDIA Boss Goes on Intel Rant
Computer World: Nvidia takes swing at Intel with new Tegra chips
VIA Press Release: VIA Nano™ Processor
Interview: Wen-chi Chen: Taiwan's Answer to Andy Grove? [PDF File]

TSMC and UMC Receive Big Orders from NVIDIA

China Economic News (CENS) says:

To keep up with strong demand for its graphics chips, Nvidia Corp. will increase outsourcing to silicon foundries Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Crop. (UMC).

Chip-making equipment suppliers pointed out that throughout last quarter Nvidia had contracted TSMC to make a record 50,000 wafers of 65nm chips and UMC to make 7,000-9,000 wafers of similar chips. Although Nvidia has scaled down contract volume of G80 chips by 3-5% as part of its effort to work off overstock, the company has increased foundry contracts of its G92B, G94 and G96 chips. Accordingly, industry watchers forecast contract volume to TSMC would surge to 60,000 wafers and the volume to UMC to rise to 10,000-12,000 wafers next quarter.

NVIDIA's strong growth is good for Taiwan's foundries. I am sure these orders are well received by both TSMC and UMC. NVIDIA however is also backing VIA Isaiah processors and therefore supporting a third significant Taiwanese company. CENS says:

In competition against Intel in Mobile Internet Device (MID) market, Nvidia has decided to side with VIA by supporting its Isaiah microprocessors.

Article: Nvidia to Increase Foundry Outsourcing to TSMC and UMC

VIA Processors Making a Comeback

According to Digitimes, VIA processors are making a comeback on low cost PCs. Digitimes reports:

With Hewlett-Packard (HP) said to have ordered 100,000 C7-M ULV processors for its initial mini-note low-cost PC launch, (which is expected to reach 500,000 units in total in 2008) while Gigabyte Technology's new M700 series UMPC (ultra mobile PC) will also adopt VIA Technologies' CPUs, the Taiwan-based chipmaker may have a chance of recover from its long series of losses, according to industry watchers.

In addition to HP and Gigabyte, more hardware vendors are said to be evaluating VIA's CPUs for their UMPC and low-cost PC products.

The Atom processors recently lauched by Intel have certain limitations and therefore are not attractive to low cost PC manufacturers.

I also managed to dig up an old 2001 interview with Wen-chi Chen, VIA' s CEO. In that interview he argues for the development of the low cost processor. When asked why focus on cheap processors he argued:

We think that the value-line product will be the fastest growing in the whole PC space. It can easily grow another 20% higher than the whole market. That's the market where people want the products. People are looking at [a] second or third PC for the home, and the value line serves that purpose better..

When asked why, he replied:

The Internet will be the biggest driving force. For Internet applications, the processor is not the main requirement -- the pipe is more important than the engine. It's like the auto industry: It used to be that people build bigger and bigger engines. But the road was only so wide, and car drivers were more limited by the road than by the engine. So people started looking at efficiency of the engine and went to smaller engines..

It seems his 2001 optimism about this market is about to pay off. No doubt however AMD and Intel will respond and, even though the Atom has limitations, if there is money to be made they will readjust their strategy to ensure they stay ahead of the pack.

Article 1: VIA CPUs to stage comeback in low-cost PC market
Article 2: Wen-chi Chen: Taiwan's Answer to Andy Grove? [PDF File]
C7 2006 Press Release: New VIA C7®-M ULV Processor Family
C7 Product Page: VIA C7®-M ULV Processor

Low Price PCs: Start of a new revolution (maybe)

Digitimes reports that both HP and Asustek are going to launch their low cost PCs in Hong Kong. today. Digitimes says,

With Hewlett-Packard (HP) launching its Mini-note PC in Hong Kong today (April 15), Asustek Computer has also decided to launch its Eee PC 900 in the same region and on the same day, according to channel sources.

Digitimes continues,

After the initial launch in Hong Kong, Asustek will launch its Eee PC in Taiwan, Japan, China, Europe and North America in the later half of April.

The development of low-cost computers is good for Taiwan. The HP variant is apparently based on a VIA Technologies platform. Furthermore, according to China Economic News (CENS), Dell's decision to move into low-price PCs is one reason why Compal, another one of Taiwan`s leading manufacturers of notebook computers, will boost production in China. According to CENS,

Compal Electronics Corp will expand production capacity at its fourth plant in Kunshan of Jiangsu Province, mainland China. The expanded plant will begin mass production sometime in the second quarter of this year to facilitate delivery of low-priced PCs ordered by the U.S.-based Dell Computer Inc., along with the growth in shipments of NBs.

However, Compal president J.T. Chen noted

...his company would introduce low-priced computers sometime in the second half of this year. But Chen noted that shipment of low-priced PCs would account for less than 10% of the company`s total shipment this year.

Commenting on the recent development in this market, CENS observes:

Seeing the successful introduction of the budget-priced "Eee" PC by Asustek last year, Hewlett Packard will introduce the US$500 Mini-Note NB equipped with 8.9-inch screen and VIA Technologies` C7-M microprocessor at the end of April; while Acer will debut its low-priced, Quanta Computer-manufactured NB equipped with Intel Corp.`s "Atom" microprocessor sometime in June.

Digitimes further reports that low-cost PCs are also going to drive the demand for touch panels in 2H 2008.

Low-cost notebooks, such as Asustek Computer's Eee PC, are expected to boost demand for medium-size touch panels in the second half of the year, as adoption of touch panels by these systems will grow fast, according to industry players and observers.

With small-size touch panels already seeing massive adoption by handsets and GPS devices, 5-10-inch touch panels are promising to become a big hit among high-end ultra mobile PCs (UMPCs) and mobile Internet devices (MIDs), as well as low-cost PCs, the sources remarked.

I guess its all good for Taiwan companies. They are all involved in the development and manufacture of these products and the associated components.

(Article 1: HP and Asustek bring low-cost PC battle to Hong Kong
Article 2: Compal Ups Production Capacity in Kunshan of Mainland China
Article 3: Eee PCs and other low-cost notebooks to boost touch panel demand in 2H08)

Nvidia vs. Intel

After competing aggressively and successfully with AMD and VIA, Intel are now aligning their sights on Nvidia by challenging Nvidia's core strength: graphics technology.

Most observers agree that the graphics processing unit (GPU) is gaining on the central processing unit (CPU) as the single most important piece of silicon inside the PC. "When you start looking at a PC today, the (central) processor means less and less," according to Jim McGregor, an analyst at In-Stat. The GPU is simply becoming a better way for PC makers to differentiate in a landscape dominated by Intel CPUs, he said.

The question is, who is going to be the largest provider of that differentiation and what form will it take? The pressure on Nvidia--expressed by Huang on Thursday at an analyst meeting--is understandable, as the company seeks to fend off both Intel and AMD, who are increasingly focused on graphics, said McGregor. "Nvidia faces serious challenges. One of their big customers (AMD) went out and acquired a competitor (ATI) and then (you have) Intel saying we're going into your territory." That has put Nvidia on edge. Intel, not surprisingly, is the biggest threat.

Interestingly Nvidia is teaming up with VIA and jointly developing a platform based on VIA's Isaiah chipset:

...to effectively do battle with a circa-2009 Intel that excels in both central and graphics processing and AMD-ATI, Nvidia must seek new partners. It is turning to one of the only other--aside from Intel and AMD--x86 processor suppliers to build an alternative PC platform. Billed as "The World's Most Affordable Vista Premium PC," the sub-$45 processing platform will combine Via's Isaiah processor with an integrated Nvidia graphics chipset.

So, let the games begin....

(Article: Nvidia does battle with Intel, Moore's Law)