Computex 2006: PC industry heads for Taipei

New CPUs set the agenda for key electronics event

Taiwan's Computex trade show, a key event in the PC industry calendar, opens on 6 June in Taipei.

The show is traditionally used by Taiwan-based manufacturers to demonstrate products ready for delivery during the run-up to the Christmas season.

Taiwanese companies dominate the production of products like desktop PC motherboards and notebook PCs, cornering more than 80 per cent of global production.

Computex attracts hordes of system integrators, distributors and other buyers from Europe, the US and Asia.

More than 120,000 visitors are expected to see tens of thousands of products from approximately 1,300 companies at Computex, which runs from 6 to 10 June.

With Intel and AMD releasing, or about to release, new processors, market watchers will be keeping a close eye on the level of support they receive from motherboard and notebook makers, the vast majority of which are based in Taiwan. 

AMD recently announced its new line of socket AM2 CPUs, which are its first to use faster DDR2 memory. AMD has traditionally tried to keep CPU socket changes to a minimum to make it easier for PC makers to support its chips.

Intel has been able to follow a different path thanks to its market dominance, and releases new CPU sockets yearly.

So the transition to a new socket type, and the level of support it receives, are important indicators of AMD's new status as a leader in the CPU market, rather than a follower.

In addition, AMD's digital home media sharing platform, AMD Live, will be formally launched at the show.

Some of the new motherboards to be shown at Computex will mark the end of a transitional phase for Intel as the company finally moves its main desktop CPUs away from the high-power, high-gigahertz track it followed with the Pentium 4.

Intel will revert to the more efficient path it first tried with later models of the Pentium 3, and followed up with the Pentium M and Core Duo mobile CPUs. The new Core Duo 2 CPUs are not expected to be formally launched until next month.

Taiwanese companies have long had difficulty establishing themselves as global brands, and two of the largest, Acer and Asustek, are paying handsomely to co-brand their notebook PCs with luxury sports car manufacturers. Acer's partner is Ferrari, and Asustek's is Lamborghini. 

As well as a battle of the brands, this is also a proxy battle for the two rival CPU manufacturers; AMD is supporting Acer, and Intel is supporting Asustek.

Acer and others will also show off notebooks equipped with HD-DVD drives. High definition video calls for large screens, and the biggest is likely to be Acer's 20.1in Aspire 9800. Some media reports suggest that Acer may also have a Blu-ray model on show.

AOpen, which surprised Computex visitors last year with an Intel-based Mac Mini look alike, will show updated versions of the product. The MP945-VX and MP945-VXR will support Intel dual-core CPUs. 

Approaching the mini-PC concept from another angle, local manufacturers will be demonstating their take on Microsoft's Ultra Mobile PC platform. The device has already attracted great interest, and great criticism, based on the Q1 Ultra-Mobile PC from Samsung.

One of Taiwan's largest electronics manufacturers, Hon Hai Precision Industry, will demonstrate a new range of graphics cards. Hon Hai, which sells products under the Foxconn brand, has not previously manufactured graphics cards, although it has sold cards made by others. 

Foxconn is the world's largest provider of electronics manufacturing services, according to analyst firm iSuppli. Given the company's huge size, its entry into the graphics card market is certain to cause concern for smaller competitors. 

As a reminder that high-tech manufacturing has a less glamorous side, environmental pressure group Greenpeace is planning a protest over the growing problem of toxic waste from electronics manufacturing and disposal. 

Although Greenpeace reportedly protested at the show last year, the action appears to have been so low-key as to have gone almost unnoticed.

Earlier this year, Taiwanese authorities reported that millions of products from local manufacturers would fail EU safety tests introduced this year.