Tag: China AI Chip Market

  • Arm to Deploy 100 Billion AI Devices by 2025

    Arm to Deploy 100 Billion AI Devices by 2025

    Arm Holdings is working towards deploying 100 billion Arm devices by 2025. This is part of a larger plan to secure a significant position in the fast-growing AI chip market, which is expected to expand from $30 billion in 2024 to more than $200 billion by 2032.

    Establishing a Dedicated AI Chip Division

    To reach this goal, Arm will create a dedicated AI chip division. This new division plans to produce prototypes by spring 2025 and start mass production by fall of the same year. Manufacturing will be handled by contract manufacturers, potentially including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (TSMC) among others. The development costs for these AI chips are anticipated to be in the hundreds of billions of yen, supported financially by Arm and SoftBank.

    Strategically, there is a potential for the AI chip business to be spun off and integrated under SoftBank once mass production begins. This aligns with SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son's vision of transforming SoftBank into an AI powerhouse. Son has allocated $64 billion to drive innovation in sectors such as data centers, robotics, and power generation. He aims to integrate AI, semiconductor, and robotics technologies to revolutionize industries like shipping, pharmaceuticals, finance, manufacturing, and logistics.

    New AI Chip Designs and Collaborations

    At the Computex forum in Taipei, Arm reiterated its goal of achieving 100 billion Arm devices globally by the end of 2025, focusing on AI-ready devices. Arm also introduced new AI chip designs and software tools intended to enhance AI capabilities in smartphones. These new designs are expected to boost compute and graphics performance by over 30% and speed up AI inference by 59% for machine learning and computer vision tasks.

    Arm’s strategy now includes providing ready-for-manufacturing blueprints, a significant change from their previous approach of offering abstract designs. This shift is designed to speed up the development process for partners like Samsung and TSMC. Samsung is already collaborating with Arm on 3nm process technology to meet the increasing demand for generative AI in mobile devices. TSMC is working with Arm to improve AI performance and efficiency through their Open Innovation Platform ecosystem.

    Enabling Customers

    Through these initiatives, Arm aims to position itself not as a competitor but as an enabler, assisting its customers in bringing AI-driven chips and devices to market more quickly. Chris Bergey, Arm’s General Manager, outlined the company's vision of combining a platform for tightly coupled accelerators with customer Neural Processing Units (NPUs) to accelerate the development of powerful AI chips and devices.

    As Arm progresses with its plans, it aims to capture a significant portion of the burgeoning AI chip market, filling the gap currently dominated by Nvidia. The company’s focus on AI chip development is a crucial component of SoftBank’s broader strategy to lead the AI revolution and transform various industries through advanced technology.

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  • Huawei Challenges Nvidia in China’s AI Chip Market

    Huawei Challenges Nvidia in China’s AI Chip Market

    The competitive environment in China’s AI chip market is experiencing a major transformation as Huawei begins to challenge Nvidia’s dominance. This shift is largely driven by US sanctions on Huawei and restrictions on Nvidia’s advanced processors, which have reshaped the market dynamics.

    Huawei’s internally developed 910B Ascend chips are quickly gaining popularity across multiple sectors, thanks to the rising use of “AI boxes.” These AI boxes are integrated units that combine AI chips, industry-specific algorithms, and pre-trained large AI models, offering ready-to-use solutions for smaller businesses and government agencies. They provide a cost-effective option for these entities to fine-tune services based on large models without hefty investments.

    Huawei's Market Expansion

    Previously, Nvidia dominated the mainland market, but now there's a potential shift with Huawei likely to surpass its American competitor. In reaction to US export restrictions on its A800, H800, and L40S processors, Nvidia has launched lower-grade chips like the H20 specifically for China. These chips are sold at a discount compared to Huawei’s Ascend 910B chips, highlighting the increased competition and market challenges Nvidia is facing.

    Huawei’s Ascend ecosystem has expanded rapidly, with 40 hardware partners, 1,600 software partners, and 2,900 AI application solutions. Major Chinese firms like Tianjin Sitonholy and SenseTime are adopting Huawei chips for their AI boxes. SenseTime even expects a doubling of its generative AI sales due to these AI boxes.

    Analysts' Predictions

    Experts predict that Huawei’s growing AI chip business will soon dominate the market. AI boxes, considered crucial for businesses, are anticipated to feature primarily local players led by Huawei. Insights from Pacific Securities and Counterpoint analysts emphasize Huawei’s technological prowess and significant market potential. However, the speed of Huawei’s rise depends on its production capabilities, as manufacturing high-performance AI accelerators and server processors is more complex than mobile system-on-a-chip products.

    Despite these advancements, Nvidia remains a major player, having captured 90% of AI chips sold in China during the first half of the previous year, compared to Huawei’s 6%. Nonetheless, the market is shifting, with more Chinese companies launching AI boxes using Huawei chips. Nvidia’s tailored-for-China chips, including the H20, are currently sold at a discount compared to Huawei’s offerings.

    Future Outlook

    Moving forward, Huawei is expected to focus more on AI chips rather than mobile chips to secure a leading position in China. Collaborations with firms like iFlyTek aim to tackle computing-power limitations, with products like the Spark Number 1 AI box set against Nvidia’s A100 processor.

    Nvidia’s strategic response to this competitive pressure includes price reductions and the introduction of custom chips for the Chinese market. Despite these measures, analysts point out the uncertainty surrounding Nvidia’s future in China amid US-China tensions and a highly competitive market.

    As China’s share of the global AI industry is projected to exceed 30% by 2035, the ongoing rivalry between Huawei and Nvidia in the AI chip market will have significant implications for both companies and the broader industry.

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