Artificial intelligence (AI)- embedded computers still need at least 1 to 2 more years to truly develop their potential and boost the market, according to Mr. Samson Hu - co-head CEO of Asustek Computer Inc.
Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg News at the Computex exhibition in Taiwan (China), Mr. Hu said that the huge launch of AI computers last year, from Asus to Lenovo, has not yet created a significant boost for the stagnant laptop market.
In addition, the wave of new tax policies from the US government has made expectations for this year even more modest. Asus is even considering increasing product prices in the US market by up to 10% to offset costs caused by new tariffs.
According to Mr. Hu, one of the major barriers is that current AI software is not mature enough to attract consumers as initially expected. Although the necessary hardware to perform AI tasks is already available on the market - typically the Windows models that Microsoft labelled Copilot+ launched a year ago at Computex 2024 - the industry still needs more time for third-party application developers to build software to take full advantage of this potential.
The initial forecast for the PC market growth rate is about 5%, Mr. Hu shared. "But due to instability in tax policy, most estimates have now decreased to 1% to 2%, even just keeping the current level".
The veteran CEO, who has co-led one of the world's largest computer and components manufacturers since 2019, also stressed that consumer spending on personal computers is currently held back by concerns about the global economic situation and the impact of taxes.
However, Mr. Hu still believes that as the AI software ecosystem develops more, especially when third-party applications start to truly take advantage of the capabilities of current hardware, AI computers will have the opportunity to reshape the market - but that will take more time.
