DFI (2397), the world's leading brand of embedded motherboards and industrial computers (IPCs), held its Q2 Investor Conference today (12th). With the company's order intake recovering and its book-to-bill (B/B) ratio steadily increasing, the second half of the year is expected to show an overall improvement over the first half despite the challenges in the global economy. In addition, sales momentum is expected to continue to increase as AI edge computing continues to be promoted globally for industrial automation, intelligent healthcare and intelligent transportation, among other applications.
In terms of operating performance in the second quarter, sales and profit in three main businesses all increased significantly compared with the previous quarter. The embedded solutions business has not yet fully recovered, but end-user demand is gradually picking up. With successive shipments of several major cases in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, sales are expected to increase this year. Although the automation business was affected by overcapacity in the mainland China market, it was able to increase profits through operational optimization. However, Taiwan benefited from a rebound in orders and annual orders for advanced semiconductor manufacturing software, which led to sales growth in the second quarter, so the operating momentum remains cautiously optimistic. In the information security business, sales have been gradually recovering as customers continue to adjust their inventories and launch new projects. DFI will continue to meet customer needs by investing in research and development related to advanced cybersecurity platforms, servers and two-phase immersion cooling technology.
Alexander Su, President of DFI, noted that the B/B ratio of embedded applications has made a comeback and business is expected to gradually recover in the second half of the year, with the most significant recovery in the Japan and Asia-Pacific markets. With the increasing adoption of AI edge computing in various fields, DFI will continue to work on virtualization technology for load balancing and the integration of CPU, GPU and NPU platforms with different AI performance capabilities. DFI's goal is to provide customers with a fine balance between flexibility in developing AI applications and the pursuit of sustainability, which is also expected to bring new momentum to future operations.
According to research firm Fortune Business Insights, the global AI edge computing market is expected to grow rapidly from $20.5 billion in 2023 to $269.8 billion in 2032, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33%. In response, DFI's three major product lines have accelerated their integration with AI edge computing applications, and DFI will showcase a variety of AI IPCs and AI application solutions developed with local partners at Automation Expo India, which takes place August 21-24 in Mumbai.