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May 8
Analysis: AMD overtakes Intel in data center revenue as agentic AI revives x86 CPUs
AMD data center revenue surpassed Intel's for the first time in the first quarter of 2026, highlighting how the rise of agentic artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping demand across the server CPU market and shifting attention back toward x86 computing infrastructure.
AI smartphones from Chinese brands are widely available in Taiwan, yet AI text summarization involving audio content deemed politically sensitive is often interrupted, as such services rely on data transfers to servers in China. Although hostilities between Taiwan and China have not escalated, cybersecurity awareness has increased in both the military and civilian sectors, especially as Taiwan looks for ways to counter AI-enabled attacks from China.
Micron's senior vice president, Jeremy Werner, told The Circuit Podcast that memory has become a strategic bottleneck for data-center inference, warning that insufficient memory can sharply cut GPU utilization while faster, larger memory can theoretically multiply the compute extracted from GPUs. The remarks underscore how storage and memory design could limit AI deployment.
Nan Pao Resins Chemical Group said April revenue rose 15.0% year on year to NT$2.285 billion (US$72.77 million), a record for the month, while cumulative revenue for January to April 2026 reached NT$8.122 billion, up 7.7% from the same period in 2025. The company attributed the monthly gain to raw material price swings and customer expectations of price increases, which prompted earlier order placements and stockpiling. A spokesperson added that Nan Pao accelerated new product development and won new customers during the period.
Qisda said its operations began to recover in the first quarter of 2026 after profits bottomed out in 2025, with chairman Peter Chen saying visibility for the second and third quarters is now better than in the first quarter. Chen expects revenue and earnings to return to normal in 2026 as AI and semiconductors continue to reshape the group's direction.
Trans-Sun Materials Technology posted broad-based gains in the first quarter of 2026, with consolidated revenue rising 28.66% year on year to NT$379 million (US$12.07 million) and net profit attributable to the parent surging 66.34% to NT$26 million, yielding earnings per share of NT$1.07. The maker of electronic functional materials credited the performance to accelerating demand for high-performance computing infrastructure tied to the expansion of AI workloads.
Dayuan Optoelectronics' consolidated revenue for the first quarter of 2026 reached NT$443 million (US$14.11 million), a 42.7% increase year on year, driven by North American broadband infrastructure demand and defense project deliveries. The company said this momentum is expected to strengthen from the third quarter of 2026 as BEAD-funded broadband spending accelerates and additional defense contracts move into execution.
When Unitree Robotics added "Mantis Boxing", Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do and even "Kamehameha" moves to its humanoid robot application store, the immediate reaction from many observers was amusement.
Ennoconn Corporation reported record-high consolidated revenue for April 2026, driven by double-digit growth across its industrial IoT, smart factory, and facilities management businesses.
Samsung Electronics is offering severance packages above China's statutory requirements while restructuring parts of its consumer electronics business in the country, signalling a calibrated retreat rather than a broader China exit.
Alibaba Group is preparing to more deeply integrate its artificial intelligence platform, Qwen, into its vast online shopping ecosystem, a move that could fundamentally reshape how consumers browse and purchase goods in China.
Gemtek Technology reported consolidated revenue of NT$3.112 billion (US$99.1 million) in the first quarter and a gross margin of 10.4%, but swung to a net loss as strategic restructuring and raw material pressure hit results, the firm announced. The networking equipment maker recorded an operating loss of NT$205 million, a net loss of NT$131 million, and earnings per share of NT$0.32, while April revenue declined 23.21% year on year to NT$1.149 billion.