INTERVIEW/Computex 2024 a reflection of tech sector's evolution: AUO chairman

Taipei, April 21 (CNA) This year's Computex will be the biggest since the outbreak of COVID-19, featuring around 1,500 exhibitors and the presence of several luminaries of the AI boom, including Nvidia's Jensen Huang, AMD's Lisa Su and Intel's Pat Gelsinger.

Others scheduled to appear and give keynote speeches at the annual show, which opens on June 4 in Taipei, are Qualcomm's Cristiano Amon and Supermicro's Charles Liang.

Paul Peng (彭双浪), the chairman of Computex's co-organizer, the Taipei Computer Association (TCA), said in an interview with CNA that there were many reasons for the show's popularity, including its compelling theme -- "Connecting AI" -- and the rise of AI products.

New opportunities related to the emergence of AI PCs (personal computers) ensure that the CEOs are showing up, he said, "especially with the growth of the IT industry in the first half of 2024 a bit lackluster."

Geopolitics might also be playing a role.

"Since the onset of the pandemic and the United States-China trade war, fewer people from the West have entered China," Peng said.

But because executives still want to know more about the region, "Taiwan has became the optimal place for them to obtain the information," said Peng, who is also the chairman of leading Taiwanese display panel manufacturer AUO Corp.

Peng also quipped that there could be a "competition" among them, with some fearing that if other "heavyweights" are attending, "then I have to go, too, to show my weight."

An evolving local tech sector

The significance of this year's Computex, however, goes well beyond its scale and glitz, Peng said in the wide-ranging interview.

Its theme of "Connecting AI" shows how far Taiwan's "computer industry" has come, as AI computing, advanced connectivity, and immersive reality, to name a few, are all featured on this annual platform.

"Taiwan's ICT supply chain [for AI development] is highly comprehensive, and AI applications are now emphasized with promoted field trials," Peng said when asked how AI will further benefit Taiwan's tech industry.

One kind of AI application is the Smart City, Peng said, and more than 100 city heads or representatives came to the Smart City Expo held in Taipei in March, an event also organized by TCA that had record attendance.

"They came in anticipation of cooperating with Taiwanese companies to have those companies' applications and solutions exported to their cities, so I believe Taiwan has a good chance to make inroads into the AI sector," Peng added.

TCA mirroring the ICT sector

The show also coincides with the 50th anniversary of the TCA, and Peng referred to his taking over the chairmanship of the "computer" association as a "panel maker" (in 2019) as another indicator of the evolution of Taiwan's tech sector.

In the past, Peng said, "most TCA chairpersons were from system integration companies, such as early computer manufacturers MiTAC and Acer, but AUO is a computer parts manufacturer."

That shows how Taiwan's computer industry has transformed into an all-encompassing ICT (information and communications technology) industry, "from software to hardware, from computer parts to total solutions, and even cybersecurity," all of which will be on display at Computex.

AUO itself has moved in that direction, Peng said, branching out from display panel making to providing total solutions on meeting space management for enterprises to educational interactive classroom solutions.

With the TCA expanding into new fields, in part because the COVID-19 pandemic rendered offline exhibitions impossible, Peng said many alliances have been set up since 2020 to keep up with technological development and keep collaborations going.

As many as 20 alliances, with focuses ranging from AI, smart city, information security, 5G, to green technology, are listed on the TCA's webpage.