Computex: Two of the Three Major International Computer Shows Have Closed; the Survivor Grew in Taipei

In June 2026, Jensen Huang took the stage in Taipei and said, 'It's great to be back home,' with a backdrop featuring _lurou fan_ (braised pork rice) and braised pork knuckles. That same week, three CEOs delivered keynote speeches in succession here. From Taichung, HIWIN made its first cross-industry appearance, connecting reducers to the joints of humanoid robots. Germany's CeBIT and the US's COMDEX have both closed their stalls, yet this 45-year-old Taipei Computer Show has only grown larger because it grew on the island where nearly 90% of the world's AI servers are actually assembled.

Computex: Two of the Three Major International Computer Shows Have Closed; the Survivor Grew in Taipei
Image credit： Masaru Kamikura via Wikimedia Commons

30-Second Overview: Computex, the Taipei International Computer Show, is turning 45 this year. It has grown from a 1981 export trade show for small and medium enterprises held near Songshan Airport into the stage where global AI giants gather every late May and early June. The two major competitors from that era, Germany's Hannover CeBIT and the US's Las Vegas COMDEX, have both closed. The 2026 theme is "AI Together." Jensen Huang took the Taipei stage, and his first words were, "It's great to be back home." That week, CEOs from NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and Intel delivered keynote speeches in succession. From Taichung, HIWIN made its first cross-industry appearance, connecting reducers to the joints of humanoid robots. From selling capacitors to selling joints, this island has only ever done one thing: it has taken the "manufacturing" outsourced by advanced nations and made it indispensable to the world.

It's Great to Be Back Home

On the morning of June 1, 2026, in Taipei, Jensen Huang took the stage for GTC Taipei. His opening words were, "It is great to be back home" 12.

Behind him, on a massive presentation screen, were listed the names of Taiwanese snack shops: Wang Ji Fucheng Lurou Fan (braised pork rice) and Fu Ba Wang Braised Pork Knuckles. Not a single line listed a chip model 1. A Tainan native who moved to the US at age nine and later founded the world's most valuable company in California 3 returned to Taipei, calling it "home" and "the starting point of all this" 1.

In that speech, he unveiled the next-generation computing chip codenamed Vera Rubin, announcing it was "in full production." He also showcased a chip called N1X, describing it as the "world's most amazing chip." He spoke of "the arrival of useful AI" and "the arrival of agentic AI" (agentic AI has arrived) 14. He delivered a line that would be repeatedly quoted: "AI agents will be the largest users of computing." AI agents will be the biggest consumers of computing power 2. But what the audience remembered most might have been that backdrop featuring lurou fan and braised pork knuckles.

The show he stood at is called COMPUTEX, the Taipei International Computer Show. It is 45 years old. And he was not the only one flooding into Taipei that week. Earlier that same morning, Qualcomm's Cristiano Amon delivered the opening keynote at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 2, declaring this year the "Year of Agents" and unveiling a new data center brand, Dragonfly 5. A few hours later, Lip-Bu Tan, who had just taken over as Intel CEO for three months, stood on the Computex stage for the first time as Intel's leader. He opened by speaking of "x86 has powered data centers for more than five decades" 6. Three companies, three keynotes, with a combined market capitalization exceeding ten trillion US dollars 7.

AMD's Lisa Su did not deliver a keynote this year, missing this spot for the second consecutive year. But she visited Taiwan for five days in late May, announcing a US$10 billion investment plan increase in Taiwan 8.

📝 Curator's Note
A question worth pausing on: Why did the world's most valuable tech companies choose Taipei, and a computer show that started near Songshan Airport in 1981, to announce their most critical products? The common explanation is the "Jensen Huang effect," a Taiwanese-American star CEO bringing global attention to Taiwan. But this explanation reverses cause and effect. Huang returned to a place that was already impossible to bypass. To understand this, we must start with that small, unheralded exhibition 45 years ago.

The Export Trade Show Near Songshan Airport

In 1981, Taiwan's personal computer industry was just budding. The first exhibition that year had a simple name: "Taipei Computer Show." It was held at the Taipei External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) Exhibition Hall near Songshan Airport, hosted by the Taipei Computer Trade Association 910.

Its initial function was practical: to provide a booth for Taiwan's emerging small and medium computer enterprises, allowing them to display motherboards and components to foreign buyers coming to Taiwan for procurement 10. It was an era of "Taiwanese money flooding the streets." The electronics parts culture of Guanghua Digital Plaza was about to spill over into an export business, and this show was the annual gathering point for that business.

In its second edition, there were only 40 exhibiting companies 9. No one would have imagined that over forty years later, that number would become 1,500 companies and 6,000 booths 11.

The Year Stan Shih Changed the Name

Stan Shih accepting interviews from multiple media outlets at the 2014 Taipei IT Month, wearing a dark suit, surrounded by a row of microphones and cameras, with the IT Month exhibition hall in the background
Acer founder Stan Shih. In 1984, he officially renamed the "Taipei Computer Show" to COMPUTEX TAIPEI, putting a sign facing the world on this show; the photo is from 2014 when he was interviewed at the Taipei IT Month. Photo: Tony Tseng, 2014-12-05. License via Wikimedia Commons.

1984 was a turning point. According to Wikipedia and multiple reports, Stan Shih, then chairman of the Taipei Computer Trade Association (and later the founder of Acer), made the decision to officially rename the show's English name to "COMPUTEX TAIPEI" 910. A naming action by a local engineer put a sign facing the world on an exhibition that was originally only for Taiwanese companies.

The following year, starting with the fifth edition in 1985, the semi-official Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) joined as a co-organizer, and the Chinese name was changed to "Taipei International Computer Show" 9. From then on, it had two engines: one was the private association that understood the industry and was close to manufacturers' needs, and the other was the trade promotion agency with resources that could push the exhibition internationally. As the two engines turned together, the exhibition began to climb.

By 1989, the industry widely considered it the largest computer show in Asia, ranking just behind Germany's Hannover CeBIT and the US's COMDEX 9. It was the golden age of Taiwan's PC contract manufacturing. Global brands like ASUS, Gigabyte, and MSI all walked out from the booths of this show.

💡 Did You Know
Computex's venues "grew" piece by piece. Starting near Songshan Airport in 1981, it fixed at the World Trade Center Hall 1 on Xinyi Road in 1986. In 2003, it was postponed to September due to SARS and included the World Trade Center Hall 3 for the first time. In 2004, Hall 4 opened simultaneously. Starting in 2008, it incorporated the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 1 (total investment approx. US$110 million) 912. It is like a tree that has continuously grown branches, never changing pots. In 2026, it "returned to WTC Hall 1" to set up an AI robot zone for the first time, opening both exhibition areas simultaneously 13.

Three Computer Shows, Two Dead

Entering the new millennium, the scale of the world's three major computer shows began to tilt.

The first to fall was the US's COMDEX. It started in Las Vegas in 1979 and peaked in 1996: 225,000 visitors, 2,337 exhibitors 14. But after the dot-com bubble burst and the September 11 attacks, major companies like IBM, Apple, and Compaq successively switched to private, invitation-only product launches. The demand-side need to contact distributors through this show collapsed entirely. By the 2003 edition, there were only 500 exhibitors and 40,000 visitors, a collapse of 80% from its peak 1415. The following June, the organizer MediaLive announced a "postponement," and this show has never opened again 16.

The bustling interior of the CeBIT 2005 exhibition hall in Hannover, Germany, with wide aisles lined with booths from various IT companies, high ceilings, and numerous signs, showing the scale of the world's largest computer show at the time
The CeBIT 2005 exhibition hall in Hannover, Germany. During the height of the dot-com bubble, it once reached 850,000 visitors, making it the undisputed number one in the world; it announced its end in 2018. Photo: Florian K, 2005-03-16. License via Wikimedia Commons.

CeBIT's death was slower, but the outcome was the same. It split off from the Hannover Messe (Hannover Industrial Trade Fair) to hold independent exhibitions in 1986 and was once the world's number one 17. Thirty-two years later, on November 28, 2018, the organizer Deutsche Messe announced: "due to declining visitor and exhibitioner attendance, CeBIT would be canceled for the foreseeable future" 1819.

The two shows died for different reasons, but their structural positions were identical: both were "demand-side" shows. COMDEX sold to US buyers, media, and distributors. CeBIT sold to Europe. As the manufacturing center of semiconductors and PCs shifted inch by inch toward Asia, European buyers flying to Hannover were better off flying directly to Taipei, and US journalists covering product launches did not need to squeeze into Las Vegas. The demand-side shows emptied out first.

Computex did not die because it grew on the supply side. Behind this city of Taipei are 1,500 exhibitors, 6,000 booths, and a complete chain from wafers, packaging, PCBs, connectors, to contract manufacturing 11. Buyers cannot meet engineers, see next-generation cooling solutions, or touch contract manufacturers who can deliver samples in three months without coming here. In the same name of "world-class computer show," the one that survived happened to grow on the manufacturing side.

One clarification: when saying "only Taipei remains among the three major computer shows," it must be clear—the US's CES (in Las Vegas) still opens every January, but it has long transformed from a computer show into a consumer electronics mega-show. Barcelona's MWC took over the主场 of the mobile communications era. In the data center circle, there is still the OCP Global Summit; in the supercomputing circle, there is still the SC Conference. Computex is "the one remaining" specifically in the niche of "general-purpose computer shows tied to manufacturing," not implying that all other major tech shows on Earth have closed.

The "Your Moment of Zen" of 2016

Looking back, Computex was never a straight line upward. In 2012, global PC shipments decreased for the first time year-on-year, with smartphones taking the consumer attention entirely 20. Intel's 14nm Broadwell process was delayed from the originally scheduled Q2 2014 to Q4 2014 for shipment, changing the "Tick-Tock" rhythm into a three-year cycle 2122. The booths at Computex in those years were filled with the shadow of "PC is dead."

And in the deepest year of the PC winter, on the morning of Wednesday, June 1, 2016, AMD CEO Lisa Su walked onto the Computex main stage.

She was not there to put out a fire. She was there to change the engine.

She unveiled an 8-core processor on stage, codenamed Summit Ridge, for desktop computers, with the architecture called Zen. Then she delivered the line that later became a turning-point manifesto in the PC enthusiast community: "Zen is delivering 40 percent more IPC than our previous processor." Zen's instructions per cycle are 40% higher than the previous generation 23. She added: "Zen is a from scratch architectural design, for those of us who do those you know it takes a lot of work." Zen is a brand-new architecture built from scratch; those who have done architecture know how much work this requires 2423.

The media was skeptical at the time. AMD had been beaten by Intel in the Bulldozer generation, and in recent years had been left with only the low-end market, with brand value hitting rock bottom. Promises like "from scratch" and "40 percent IPC" had been heard too many times over the past decade. Wccftech, PC Perspective, and TweakTown had headlines on the same day that seemed like a bet: "Here It Is! Your Moment of Zen!" 232425

Then Zen actually delivered. On March 2, the following year, the Ryzen 7 1700X went on sale, and Intel's high-end desktop market began to bleed. AMD's market capitalization rose from less than US$3 billion when Su took over in 2014 to the hundred-billion level by 2020. On the Computex booths, motherboard manufacturers had something to sell again, cooling manufacturers had orders to take again, and PC DIY enthusiasts had a reason to fly to Taipei every May again.

Lisa Su was born in Tainan (1969), moved to Queens, New York, with her family at age three, her father a statistician, her mother an accountant 26. Incidentally, Jensen Huang and she are first cousins once removed—Huang's mother is the sister of Su's grandfather 27. Two CEOs who reshaped the computing industry's terrain share family origins in Tainan.

That 2016 keynote was the key foreshadowing for Computex to turn from the PC winter. But it would take seven years for Huang to walk onto the Computex stage in 2023 and say "We're back" 28—that year he released the Grace Hopper super chip, used NVLink to string together 256 H100s into a 1 exaflop DGX GH200, bringing generative AI into every data center. Computex was pulled out of the PC winter and became the AI主场.

💡 Did You Know
Computex simultaneously started the InnoVEX startup exhibition in 2016. The first edition had 217 startups from 22 countries; TAITRA EVP Ye Ming-shui said at the time "completely surpassed our expectations" 29. Expanding the exhibition scope from mature PC hardware to AI, IoT, and startups. In 2026, InnoVEX had nearly 500 startups from 23 countries, an 11-year high 11. Computex's next body was quietly growing in the booth next door at that time.

The Mirror Image of Taipei IT Month: Two Shows on the Same Island

This island has another computer show that did not survive.

Taipei IT Month. Launched by the government as "Information Week" in 1980, it was renamed "IT Month" in 1985. It was held every December at the Taipei World Trade Center, selling computers to general households. A PC, a printer, a suite of software packages. Paired with year-end salaries and Lunar New Year red envelopes, it was the show that the post-70s, 80s, and 90s generations followed their fathers to visit as children 30.

In 2001, the Taipei Computer Trade Association handed over the hosting rights of IT Month to eight joint private associations 30. Then its curve began to go down. After the 2010s, e-commerce rose, mobile phones replaced home PCs, and consumer groups fragmented. IT Month's role gradually shifted from an "annual grand ceremony" to a slot squeezed between photography equipment shows, auto shows, and e-commerce promotions.

Two shows, both held on the same island. One in May, one in December. One B2B, one B2C. One selling to foreign buyers coming to Taiwan, one selling to local household consumers. Computex grew larger and larger; IT Month slowly exited.

The supply-side show survived; the demand-side show moved toward closure. COMDEX, CeBIT, and IT Month tell the same story, just in three versions—buyers age, buyers move, buyers are taken by Amazon, but manufacturing stays where it is, and the next generation of engineers will go there. Taipei never let chips leave.

The Six Thousand Booths No One Filmed

The exterior of Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 1, a glass curtain-wall building with a large COMPUTEX TAIPEI exhibition sign hanging high, with crowds of visitors wearing badges gathering at the entrance preparing to enter; this is the main venue for the Taipei International Computer Show in recent years
The exterior of Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 1 during Computex 2016. COMPUTEX incorporated Nangang as the main venue starting in 2008; the 2026 "dual exhibition area" has one side in Nangang and the other returning to WTC Hall 1. Photo: NVIDIA Taiwan, 2016-05-31. License via Wikimedia Commons.

Every year, Computex cameras focus on the main stage. But walking into the actual exhibition hall, in the 6,000 booths, the names of the vast majority of exhibitors are unknown.

They make cooling modules, connectors, cases, power supplies, structural parts, passive components, and test fixtures. Their booths are small; sales and procurement staff chat standing up. There are no show girls, no check-in walls. Their customers are Quanta, Wistron, Foxconn, and above them, NVIDIA, AMD, Intel. Their competitors are scattered in Xinzhuang, Taoyuan, Taichung, and Tainan, mostly brother factories or similar factories opened by masters striking out on their own.

These booths are Computex's body. The Taiwan industry estimates that nearly 90% of the world's AI servers are assembled and shipped by these companies 31. But they do not earn money from the upstream. In the contract manufacturing industry, there is a self-deprecating saying "3% to 4% gross margin," with gross margins fluctuating between 3% and 4%, jokingly called "Mao Mountain Taoist" 32. In contrast, TSMC's gross margin is around 50%, and NVIDIA's is around 70%.

And the more you do, the harder it gets. AI rack unit prices are high, memory costs rise, and assembly fees cannot increase proportionally, squeezing gross margins further. Wistron's Q4 2025 was 5.88%; Quanta's Q3 same year was 6.85%. This structure was repeated again and again at the 2026 earnings calls 33.

The starlight on the main stage burns brightly, but the booths behind the stage remain the skeleton of this show. Without them, no matter how many keynotes, you cannot match the smell of engineering samples.

HIWIN Connects Reducers to the Joints of Humanoid Robots

One of the most noteworthy booths to pause at in 2026 is from Taichung.

HIWIN Technologies (2049) has been making precision transmissions for over forty years, starting with ball screws, later growing harmonic reducers, linear actuator modules, and electric grippers one by one. Its original customers were machine tool factories and semiconductor equipment factories. On June 3, 2026, the front page of the China Times wrote: "Precision transmission giant HIWIN Technologies (2049) makes its first cross-industry appearance at COMPUTEX 2026" 34.

The phrase "first cross-industry appearance" is worth pausing on. A Taichung transmission factory with over forty years of history entered the computer show for the first time in 2026. It presented three integrated products: dual-arm logistics robots in collaboration with US startups; core modules for humanoid robots (the same ball screws, harmonic reducers, motors, drivers, linear and rotary actuator modules); and smart grippers combined with semiconductor smart equipment solutions 34.

It connected the skills it had built over forty years for machine tools to the body of "Physical AI" that NVIDIA's Jensen Huang spoke of. In 1981, at the first Computex, the booths near Songshan Airport sold capacitors, resistors, and motherboards to Hong Kong buyers to take back and assemble computers. In the 2026 WTC Hall 1 AI Robot Zone, over 180 exhibitors used live demos on-site to demonstrate "the complete industry chain from sensors, motors, reducers to system integration" 35. Forty-five years on the same curve, the definition of components has shifted from capacitors to reducers.

TAITRA Chairman Huang Chih-fang said he expects Taiwan to "further leap from a global tech manufacturing hub to a 'Global AI Solutions Center'" 35. Contract manufacturers like Foxconn and Pegatron, which originally assembled AI servers, also showed off robots at the exhibition in 2026 36.

Saying Goodbye to Taipei: The Players Left Behind

However, at this year's Computex, some felt left behind.

Tom's Hardware reported on Day 4, 2026-06-05, with the headline directly written: "Computex 2026, Day 4 — the B2B shift, and we say farewell to Taipei" 37. The article summarized the week's observations in one sentence: "Computex 2026 had far more B2B-focused companies in attendance, whereas in the past, the show typically featured strictly consumer products and companies that feed into that ecosystem." 37

On opening day, Tom's Hardware's own Jeffrey Kampman had already set the preventive tone: "In a world where nobody is launching truly new graphics cards, my Computex week will almost certainly be defined by data center products, integrated graphics processors, and AI accelerators of various shapes and sizes." 38

PC Gamer's observation went in another direction: "Computex 2026 has really highlighted the fact that PC gaming tech isn't all about gaming anymore." 39

The evidence is not just the on-site feeling. In Q1 2026, consumer DRAM prices rose 110%, and consumer SSDs rose 147%. A 32GB DDR5 memory kit was pushed from just over US$100 a year ago to over US$350 40. AMD's RDNA 5 gaming GPUs were told by contract manufacturers to be delayed until late 2027 or even early 2028. NVIDIA's next-generation consumer GPUs are also scheduled for the same period 41. At the show, cooling booths were making liquid cold plates instead of RGB fans. Those players who used to buy high-end gaming PCs for DIY could imagine that there would be no truly new GPUs to buy this year or next.

The main stage gave Physical AI, gave Vera Rubin, gave the Year of Agents. The booths gave liquid cold plates, gave reducers, gave humanoid robot modules. Those players who were still looking for new GPUs and new RGB cases on the main stage a few years ago were pushed to the two outermost rows of the exhibition hall, or simply did not enter. Computex was pulled out of the PC winter by AI and survived. But this survival does not necessarily mean every original customer group is still inside.

What Supports the AI Mainland is Not the Data Center, but the Factories Carving Chips

The hotter the main stage gets, the heavier the energy bill becomes.

The exterior of the TSMC factory in Hsinchu Science Park, a cluster of beige large cleanroom buildings, the main production base for advanced chips globally
The TSMC factory in Hsinchu Science Park. The chain supporting Computex's main stage truly consumes electricity upstream at the wafer fabs, not downstream at the data centers. Photo: Arusanov, 2009, Public Domain. License via Wikimedia Commons.

The Reporter's April 20, 2026, energy special report provided a counter-intuitive comparison: In 2025, data center electricity consumption, "compared to the national total of 282.8 billion kWh, accounted for only about 0.5%." In the same year, the "semiconductor manufacturing industry" consumed 42.38 billion kWh, accounting for nearly 15% of the national total 42.

In other words, the chain supporting those GB300s, Vera Rubins, and Dragonflies on Computex's main stage truly consumes electricity upstream—at the TSMC wafer fabs carving the chips. S&P Global estimates that TSMC's electricity consumption accounted for about 8% of Taiwan's national total and 16% of the industrial sector in 2024. By 2030, as wafer capacity increases by 90% compared to 2023, it could reach 24% 43.

Growth on the AI side is equally steep. The Ministry of Economic Affairs Energy Administration's 2023 "National Power Supply Situation Report" estimated that Taiwan's AI tech electricity demand "will increase from 240,000 kW in 2023 to 2.24 million kW in 2028, an increase of fully 2 million kW, a growth rate of 8 times" 44.

Signals that the power structure cannot hold were already lit. In early August 2024, Taipower threw a shock bomb: North of Taoyuan would no longer approve new applications for data centers above 5MW 4245. Behind this was the 20 billion kWh supply-demand gap of that year, with northern electricity consumption at 93 billion kWh and generation at only 75 billion kWh 45. Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Tseng Wen-sheng added an explanation: this policy "only targets data center server rooms," R&D centers and supercomputers are not affected 45. Taipei's computer show opens lively for four days every year, but the island supporting it behind the scenes finds its annual power bill harder and harder to balance.

The Same Irreplaceability, Swapped from Shield to Target

In the past decade, the most frequently cited concept for Taiwan was the "Silicon Shield." The meaning: Because 92% of the world's most advanced chips are produced in Taiwan, any armed conflict would destroy the global tech industry, so this island theoretically would not be attacked.

Starting in 2025, this concept began to reverse.

CSET (Center for Security and Emerging Technology) and Lawfare jointly published an analysis on August 21, 2025, writing: "The more both sides treat advanced AI as a decisive strategic imperative, the greater the risk that Taiwan's once-vaunted 'silicon shield' could become a target." 4647

The article then deduced Beijing's motivation: "Beijing may view going on the offensive as its best shot at accomplishing two strategic objectives at once: achieving 'reunification' and leveling the AI playing field." 46

Newsweek published an excerpt from Kerry Brown's book on January 22, same year, also saying: "In the current scenario, TSMC's position makes China covet Taiwan even more." "For all the talk by Taiwanese officials of the 'silicon shield' protecting them, reliance on it as an absolute guarantee of the island's safety and security would be foolhardy." 48

The same irreplaceability changed symbols within a year.

Taiwanese firms' response is "China Plus N." Wistron's capacity is already 70% in Mexico. Compal's factory expansion ranges from China all the way to Vietnam, India, Brazil, Poland, and Mexico, plus the US added in 2024 3349. Foxconn added US$241 million in August 2024 to expand AI server production in Chihuahua, Mexico. In October same year, Foxconn Senior Vice President Ting Lang-che (Benjamin Ting) announced at the Foxconn Tech Day that they are "building the largest GB200 production facility on the planet" in Guadalajara, Mexico, with a monthly capacity of 20,000 units and an annual production of 240,000 Blackwell-level servers 5051. Quanta also added expansion for AI servers and EV parts in Monterrey, Mexico 52.

Supply chain research company Z2Data released a report in March 2025 with the title: "Why 'China Plus One' Has Become 'Anywhere but China'." The text explains: "What began as the cautious 'China Plus One' strategy—where companies maintained China operations while establishing backup manufacturing elsewhere—has evolved into something far more decisive: 'Anywhere but China'." 53

The Dallas Fed's 2025 trade report added a note: Mexico's exports of automatic data processing machines more than doubled in the past year, breaking US$85 billion in 2025. In 2025, Taiwanese firms revealed planned foreign direct investment of US$5.3 billion to Texas 54.

Silicon Shield and distributed layout, this island holds both ends simultaneously. One end makes itself harder to attack; the other end ensures that if something happens, it can still supply the world. The more beautifully the CEOs speak on the Computex stage, the heavier this dual pressure becomes on the shoulders of the engineers in the booths.

Taipei is the Starting Point of All This

Behind the board with lurou fan and braised pork knuckles on June 1, 2026, Huang said a sentence: "Taiwan possesses the world's best supply chain ecosystem." 2

When he said this, sitting under the stage were not just media, but also engineers, salespeople, and chairmen from HIWIN, Quanta, Wistron, Foxconn, GCL, Delta, Acer, and Pegatron. One layer behind them, there are masters making PCBs in tin-roofed houses in Xinzhuang, female workers welding connectors on machine tools in Taoyuan, the next generation of successors in the 700+ machine tool and precision transmission factories within a half-hour drive from Taichung, and 30-year-old PhDs running processes in the Tainan Science Park.

In 1981, the booths near Songshan Airport sold motherboards to Hong Kong buyers to take back. In the 2026 WTC Hall 1 AI Robot Zone, 180 exhibitors used live demos on-site to demonstrate reducers, motors, and grippers. In the intervening 45 years, this island has only ever done one thing: it has taken the "manufacturing" outsourced by advanced nations and made it indispensable to the world.

COMDEX died because it was held in Las Vegas—the demand side of buyers, media, and launches. CeBIT died because it was held in Hannover—the buyers and media of Europe. IT Month also withered because it was held in Taipei but faced the retail end of Taiwanese households, and that retail end was cut away by e-commerce and mobile phones.

Computex survived because it was held in Taipei—the supply side of this island. Next time you see news of "Jensen Huang coming to Taiwan" or "three CEOs on stage together," you can read it this way: It is the infrastructure of global computing, returning every year to the place where it is actually assembled, to pay homage.

NVIDIA GTC Taipei 2026 Keynote Full Version (NVIDIA Official Channel):

NVIDIA Official Channel: Jensen Huang's 2026 GTC Taipei Keynote Full Version, "It's great to be back home," Vera Rubin full production, _lurou fan and braised pork knuckles on the backdrop._

NVIDIA Computex 2024 Keynote Full Version (NVIDIA Official Channel):

NVIDIA Official Channel: Jensen Huang's 2024 COMPUTEX Keynote Full Version, the concept of "AI Factory" and the verbatim "Taiwan is the Unsung Hero."

Further Reading:

Image Sources

This article uses 6 Wikimedia Commons public domain / CC licensed images, all cached in public/article-images/technology/ to avoid hotlinking to source servers; plus 2 embedded YouTube videos from the NVIDIA Official Channel (Jensen Huang 2024, 2026 keynotes):

The EVOLVE added section (Lisa Su 2016 stage previewing Zen / IT Month comparison / Tom's Hardware "farewell to Taipei" B2B shift / HIWIN first cross-industry appearance) currently has no new images added: No suitable PD/CC image for Lisa Su's 2016 keynote was found; Tom's Hardware article images are commercial media copyrights, so the text narrative was used. If a 2016 keynote image publicly licensed by AMD newsroom or a 2026 dual-arm robot demo image publicly licensed by HIWIN is found in the future, they can be added.

References

  1. United Daily News: Jensen Huang GTC Taipei 2026 Keynote "It's Great to Be Back Home" (2026) — Reports on Jensen Huang's GTC Taipei keynote speech during Computex on June 1, 2026, including verbatim quotes "It's great to be back home," "Useful AI has arrived," "Agentic AI has arrived," Vera Rubin/Vera CPU/N1X product launches, and the backdrop listing Taiwanese food vendors like Wang Ji Fucheng Lurou Fan and Fu Ba Wang Braised Pork Knuckles.↩
  2. TradingKey: Jensen Huang's GTC Taipei 2026 Keynote — AI Enters Agentic Era (2026) — Compiles Huang's 2026 GTC Taipei keynote "It is great to be back home," "AI agents will be the largest users of computing. Vera is the first CPU designed for that future," "Taiwan possesses the world's best supply chain ecosystem" verbatim quotes, supplementing Vera Rubin mass production schedule and Blackwell Ultra upgrade.↩
  3. Wikipedia: Jensen Huang — Records Jensen Huang's birth in 1963, growing up in Tainan, moving to the US at age nine in 1973, Oregon State University and Stanford EE degrees, and co-founding NVIDIA with Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem in 1993.↩
  4. Seeking Alpha: Nvidia highlights agentic and physical AI partnerships at Computex (2026) — Records Huang's 2026 GTC Taipei "agentic AI has arrived, that useful AI has arrived" verbatim, Physical AI and key partner layout, responding to Wall Street on NVIDIA's strategic position at Computex 2026.↩
  5. Qualcomm Newsroom / TradingView: Qualcomm says 2026 is the 'Year of Agents' — unveils Dragonfly AI data center brand (2026) — Reports Cristiano Amon's June 1, 2026 Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 2 opening keynote, setting "Year of Agents" tone and Qualcomm data center new brand Dragonfly, including details of collaboration with TSMC and Taiwanese ODMs.↩
  6. Intel Newsroom: COMPUTEX 2026 — An Intelligent World Built on Silicon (2026) — Intel official press release, recording Lip-Bu Tan's first Computex 2026 keynote speech as Intel CEO, including "x86 has powered data centers for more than five decades," "compute must be reinvented beyond the socket to rackscale systems to accommodate the needs of agentic AI workloads" verbatim, Xeon 6+ and Rackscale Blueprints introduction.↩
  7. Business Today: COMPUTEX 2026 CEOs on Stage, Corporate Market Cap Exceeds Ten Trillion USD (2026) — Reports on the 2026 Computex CEO keynotes and forums by Huang (NVIDIA), Tan (Intel), and Amon (Qualcomm), with the combined market capitalization of the companies of nearly 30 speakers exceeding ten trillion US dollars (Su did not keynote that year but visited Taiwan).↩
  8. TaiwanPlus: AMD's Lisa Su kicks off CEO-studded Computex show in Taipei, announces $10B Taiwan investment (2026) — Reports Su's May 20-21, 2026 five-day Taiwan visit, announcing AMD's US$10 billion investment increase in Taiwan in coming years (including TSMC collaboration and Taiwan R&D center expansion), and explaining she missed Computex main stage keynote for second consecutive year, CES 2026 main keynote already handed to Jack Huynh.↩
  9. Wikipedia: Taipei International Computer Show — Records the complete history of Computex since its first edition in 1981 as "Taipei Computer Show": 1984 renaming, 1985 TAITRA joining and renaming to "Taipei International Computer Show," annual scale numbers, world ranking changes, venue expansion timeline, and InnoVEX establishment.↩
  10. Jiemian: Taipei Computer Show Forty Years (Computex History Review) — Details Computex's complete context from 1981 export trade show, 1984 renaming by Stan Shih, 1985 TAITRA becoming co-organizer, 1989 becoming Asia's largest, to 2003 becoming world's second, and the decline after 2012 PC shipment drop, along with annual scale numbers.↩
  11. Economic Daily News: COMPUTEX 2026 Scale Hits New High (2026) — Reports on the 2026 exhibition dates June 2-5, four exhibition halls, 33 countries, 1,500 companies, 6,000 booths, three main themes (AI & Computing / Robots & Mobility / Next-Gen Tech), and WTC Hall 1 adding AI Robot Zone, E-paper Zone, TechXperience, and InnoVEX with nearly 500 startups from 23 countries, an 11-year high.↩
  12. Wikipedia: Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center — Records Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 1 ground breaking March 2005, opening March 2008, total investment approx. US$110 million, and Hall 2 subsequent addition venue construction history and COMPUTEX进驻 timeline.↩
  13. United Daily News: Huang Chih-fang Discusses COMPUTEX 2026 Dual Exhibition Areas and AI Together (2026) — Records TAITRA Chairman Huang Chih-fang's verbatim speech "First time adopting dual exhibition area model, besides Nangang Exhibition Center Halls 1 and 2, returning to WTC Hall 1, becoming the largest exhibition in history," "AI Together symbolizes Taiwan joining hands with the global tech industry to jointly create a new chapter of future AI civilization," and WTC Hall 1 AI Robot Zone, E-paper Zone, TechXperience three zones and Physical AI, Embodied AI planning.↩
  14. Wikipedia: COMDEX — Records COMDEX starting in Las Vegas in 1979, peaking in 1996 with 225,000 visitors / 2,337 exhibitors, collapsing in 2003 to 500 exhibitors / 40,000 visitors, MediaLive announcing postponement in 2004, never reopening complete timeline.↩
  15. Exhibit City News: The Rise and Fall of COMDEX 1979-2006 — Industry special review COMDEX from 1979 start to 2003 collapse, 2004 announcing postponement 27-year complete rise and fall history, including annual visitor and exhibitor scale comparison, dot-com bubble burst and 911 impact analysis on IT shows.↩
  16. Tampa Bay Times: COMDEX tech show called off this year (2004-06-28) — Reports June 2004 organizer MediaLive (Key3Media restructured) officially announcing COMDEX postponement, IBM and Apple major companies switching to invitation-only launches details, key first-hand news of COMDEX exit.↩
  17. Wikipedia: CeBIT — Records CeBIT splitting from Hannover Messe in 1986 to hold independent, becoming world's largest IT show in 1980-90s, peaking in 2001 at 850K visitors, Deutsche Messe announcing discontinuation in 2018, 32-year lifecycle, and Hannover Messe 1984-11 decision background for splitting.↩
  18. CNA: Germany's CeBIT Computer Show Enters History (2018) — Reports on Germany's Hannover CeBIT announcing discontinuation in November 2018, analyzing the decline in visitor and exhibitor numbers, market being eaten by CES/MWC/Computex/IFA, and noting "Taipei's International Computer Show in June every year has geographical advantages for Asian order-taking manufacturers, and its scale continues to expand."↩
  19. BroadbandTVNews: German trade fair CeBIT cancelled (2018-11-28) — Deutsche Messe AG November 28, 2018 announcing CeBIT discontinuation official news, including "due to declining visitor and exhibitioner attendance, CeBIT would be canceled for the foreseeable future" announcement verbatim.↩
  20. Wccftech: Intel 14nm Broadwell Q4 2014 delay confirmed — Reports Intel 14nm Broadwell process delayed from originally scheduled Q2 2014 mass production to Q4 2014, Q1 2015 full launch, including process yield issues and Tick-Tock rhythm被打亂 changed to Process-Architecture-Optimization three-year cycle behind the scenes.↩
  21. Guru3D: More on Intel 14nm Broadwell Q4 2014 delay — Supplement Intel 14nm Broadwell delay supply chain impact, originally supposed to appear Computex time point, and AMD during Intel stuck period planning Zen turnaround plan timeline comparison.↩
  22. Wikipedia: Computex — English Wikipedia Computex entry, recording 2012 global PC shipments first year-on-year decrease, PC winter period Computex media narrative status decline, 2016 InnoVEX establishment, 2018 CeBIT discontinuation Computex re-noticed key nodes.↩
  23. Wccftech: AMD Announces Zen 40% IPC Improvement Over Excavator (2016) — Reports June 1, 2016 Su's Computex AMD keynote stage previewing Zen architecture, including "Zen is delivering 40 percent more IPC than our previous processor" verbatim, Summit Ridge 8-core working silicon display and 2017 Q1 Ryzen consumer schedule.↩
  24. PC Perspective: Computex 2016 — Here It Is! Your Moment of Zen! (2016-06-01) — On-site first-hand report Su's June 1, 2016 Computex keynote ending previewing Zen architecture, including "Zen is a from scratch architectural design, for those of us who do those you know it takes a lot of work" verbatim, on-site demo and then media questioning AMD "from scratch" promise atmosphere.↩
  25. TweakTown: AMD will unveil Polaris GPUs and Zen APUs on June 1 (2016) — Preview AMD June 1, 2016 Computex announcing Polaris GPUs and Zen APUs schedule, reviewing AMD from 2014 Su taking over to 2016 Zen preview two-year strategic layout.↩
  26. Wikipedia: Lisa Su — Records Su born 1969 in Tainan, moved to US New York Queens with family at age three, father Su Chun-huai statistician, mother accountant, MIT PhD, IBM and Freescale experience, 2014 taking over AMD CEO pushing Zen turnaround complete biography.↩
  27. Tom's Hardware: Jensen Huang and Lisa Su Family Tree — Compiles Huang and Su family relationship: Huang's mother is Su's grandfather's sister, two are first cousins once removed, family origin in Tainan, explaining this rare tech CEO family chain from family generation perspective.↩
  28. NVIDIA Blog: Jensen Huang Computex 2023 Keynote — NVIDIA official blog, recording Huang's May 29, 2023 Computex speech, the post-pandemic first in-person keynote, announcing Grace Hopper super chip mass production, DGX GH200 supercomputer (NVLink connecting 256 chips, 1 exaflop), with the main theme of bringing generative AI into every data center.↩
  29. BusinessWire: COMPUTEX 2016 InnoVEX 217 startups 22 countries (2016-06-03) — TAITRA 2016 first InnoVEX startup exhibition official press release, including 217 startups, 22 countries exhibition data and TAITRA EVP Ye Ming-shui "completely surpassed our expectations" verbatim.↩
  30. Wikipedia: IT Month — Records IT Month starting from 1980 "Information Week," renamed "IT Month" in 1985, 2001 handed over by Taipei Computer Trade Association to eight joint private associations history, and 2010s onwards visitor and exhibition scale gradually shrinking observation.↩
  31. EE Times Taiwan: Taiwan Contract Manufacturing Accounts for Nearly 90% of Global AI Server Shipments (2024) — Cites research institutions estimating that Taiwanese firms (Quanta, Wistron, Wistron Nebula, Inventec, Foxconn, etc.) contract manufacturing accounts for nearly 90% of global AI server shipments, and explains TSMC producing over 90% of world's most advanced chips, CoWoS advanced packaging as AI computing bottleneck supply chain positioning.↩
  32. Cnyes: Foxconn AI Server Contract Manufacturing Market Share and Gross Margin Analysis — Reports Foxconn's global AI server contract manufacturing market share of about 40%, ranking first globally, and explains the low gross margin structure of electronic contract manufacturing industry "3% to 4% gross margin," "Mao Mountain Taoist," contrasting with TSMC and NVIDIA upstream high gross margins.↩
  33. TechNews: AI Server Capacity Relocation and Taiwanese Firms' Multi-Location Layout (2025) — Reports on Taiwanese AI server contract manufacturers' global capacity layout, including Wistron 70% capacity in Mexico, Wistron and Quanta setting up plants in US, and Compal setting up plants simultaneously in Taiwan, China, Vietnam, India, Mexico, US, etc., "China Plus N" distributed strategy, supplementing Wistron and Quanta's recent earnings call gross margin structure.↩
  34. China Times: HIWIN First Appearance at COMPUTEX Creating Physical AI (2026) — Reports precision transmission giant HIWIN Technologies (2049) first cross-industry appearance at COMPUTEX 2026, exhibiting dual-arm logistics robots, humanoid robot core modules, smart grippers and PLP semiconductor smart equipment solutions at WTC Hall 1 AI Robot Zone, integrating self-made ball screws, harmonic reducers, motors, drivers and control technology to build linear and rotary actuator modules.↩
  35. COMPUTEX TAIPEI Official: 2026 Return to WTC, First AI Robot Exhibition Zone — TAITRA official news, recording COMPUTEX 2026 returning to Taipei WTC Hall 1, first setting up AI Robot Exhibition Zone, WTC zone gathering over 180 exhibitors "complete industry chain from sensors, motors, reducers to system integration" and on-site live demo display, and Chairman Huang Chih-fang "further leap from global tech manufacturing hub to 'Global AI Solutions Center'" verbatim speech.↩
  36. China Times: COMPUTEX 2026 Taiwanese Firms' Booths and Liquid Cooling Become Standard (2026) — Reports on Foxconn's largest booth displaying Vera Rubin NVL72 computing rack and robots in 2026, Quanta and Wistron booth scales, and due to rising GPU computing power and air cooling hitting physical limits, liquid cooling cooling becomes standard exhibit for major contract manufacturers, supply chain extending from assembling AI servers to assembling AI robots.↩
  37. Tom's Hardware: Unfiltered Computex 2026 Day 4 — the B2B shift, and we say farewell to Taipei (2026-06-05) — Shields/Kampman/Roach/Alcorn co-authored closing article, week observation conclusion "Computex 2026 had far more B2B-focused companies in attendance, whereas in the past, the show typically featured strictly consumer products and companies that feed into that ecosystem" verbatim.↩
  38. Tom's Hardware: Unfiltered Computex 2026 Day 0 — peek behind the curtain (2026-06-01) — Jeffrey Kampman pre-opening article, "In a world where nobody is launching truly new graphics cards, my Computex week will almost certainly be defined by data center products, integrated graphics processors, and AI accelerators of various shapes and sizes" verbatim, providing pre-opening omen for consumer abandonment narrative.↩
  39. PC Gamer: Computex 2026 has really highlighted the fact that PC gaming tech isn't all about gaming anymore (2026) — PC Gamer on-site observation article, from gaming player perspective looking back at Computex 2026 "PC gaming tech isn't all about gaming anymore" exhibition hall scene and feeling.↩
  40. Tom's Hardware: IDC expects PC prices to jump 8% in 2026 due to memory shortages (2026) — Cites IDC report, Q1 2026 consumer DRAM rose 110%, SSD rose 147%, 32GB DDR5 kit pushed from around US$100 to over US$350 market data.↩
  41. Tom's Hardware: AMD RDNA 5 gaming GPUs coming late 2027 according to AIBs at Computex — Computex 2026 on-site contract manufacturers revealing AMD RDNA 5 gaming GPUs delayed to late 2027, NVIDIA next-generation consumer GPUs same period schedule, hard evidence for consumer abandonment narrative.↩
  42. The Reporter: Data Center Electricity Demand and Taiwan's Energy Test (2026) — Huang Hao-min, Sun Wen-lin in-depth investigation of Taiwan data center electricity demand status, including 2025 data center electricity consumption accounting for 0.5% of national total, semiconductor manufacturing industry accounting for nearly 15% of national total (42.38 billion kWh) counter-intuitive comparison, 2024 to 2030 AI (including data centers) new electricity consumption cumulative about 1.85GW, Taipower 2024 onwards temporarily suspending Taoyuan north 5MW+ data center electricity application policy.↩
  43. DCD: TSMC could account for 24% of Taiwan's electricity consumption by 2030 (cite S&P Global) — Cites S&P Global model estimate: TSMC 2024 electricity consumption accounted for about 8% of Taiwan national total, 16% of industrial sector, by 2030 due to wafer capacity 90% more than 2023 reaching 794GW, could reach 24%.↩
  44. PTS: 2030 Taiwan Total Electricity Consumption Estimated to Grow 13%, AI Power Demand Increases 8 Times (2024-07-15) — Cites Ministry of Economic Affairs Energy Administration 2023 National Power Supply Situation Report, "AI tech electricity demand, estimated also from 2023 240,000 kW, increase to 2028 2.24 million kW, fully increase 2 million kW, growth rate reaches 8 times" verbatim.↩
  45. bnext: Taipower Orders Taoyuan North Refuse Data Center Electricity (2024-08-26) — Reports early August 2024 Taipower shock bomb, Taoyuan north no longer approve 5MW+ data center electricity application policy, including 2023 north electricity consumption 93 billion kWh / generation 75 billion kWh / supply-demand gap about 20 billion kWh key data and Tseng Wen-sheng supplement "policy only targets data center server rooms" verbatim.↩
  46. Lawfare: Taiwan's Silicon Shield Is Turning Into a Target (2025) — US legal media Lawfare and CSET joint analysis, discussing the reversal of "Silicon Shield" concept since 2025: Taiwan semiconductors' irreplaceability is turning from a deterrent barrier into a targeted strategic target, including Powers-Riggs and Bresnick's verbatim deduction of Beijing's strategic motivation.↩
  47. CSET Georgetown: Taiwan's Silicon Shield Is Turning Into a Target (2025) — CSET and Lawfare joint published same analysis, Powers-Riggs and Bresnick writing, including "Beijing may view going on the offensive as its best shot at accomplishing two strategic objectives at once: achieving 'reunification' and leveling the AI playing field" verbatim deduction Beijing strategic motivation.↩
  48. Newsweek: Is Taiwan's Silicon Shield a Security Guarantee or a Target? (2025-01-22 Kerry Brown Book Excerpt) — Kerry Brown book "Why Taiwan Matters" excerpt, including "In the current scenario, TSMC's position makes China covet Taiwan even more," "For all the talk by Taiwanese officials of the 'silicon shield' protecting them, reliance on it as an absolute guarantee of the island's safety and security would be foolhardy" verbatim.↩
  49. Wikipedia: Compal Electronics — Compal Electronics entry, records China Kunshan, Vietnam, US, Brazil, Poland, Mexico, India (2024 added) seven-country production line layout, is "China Plus N" distributed strategy Taiwanese firm representative case.↩
  50. Mexico News Daily: Foxconn to invest US$241M in AI server manufacturing in Chihuahua (2024-08-22) — Reports Foxconn Group's Foxconn Industrial Internet (FII) August 2024 in Mexico Chihuahua State Juárez City adding US$241.2 million to expand AI server production official news, factory originally opened 2005.↩
  51. SCMP / Reuters: Foxconn builds world's largest Nvidia superchip production facility in Mexico (2024-10-08) — Reports Foxconn Senior Vice President Ting Lang-che (Benjamin Ting) October 8, 2024 Foxconn Tech Day "We're building the largest GB200 production facility on the planet," "The demand is awfully huge," investment approx. US$900 million, monthly capacity 20,000 units Blackwell servers, annual production 240,000 units, Mexico Guadalajara plant 2025-26 online.↩
  52. Dallas Fed: Taiwan firms key to nearshoring and reshoring to support AI boom (2025) — Dallas Fed 2025 trade report, records Inventec / Pegatron / Wistron in Mexico Juárez City setting up plant 75 million to US$250 million, Quanta in Monterrey adding AI servers and EV parts, Mexico automatic data processing machine exports 2025 break US$85 billion, Taiwanese firms 2025 to Texas revealed US$5.3 billion planned FDI etc. data.↩
  53. Z2Data: Why 'China Plus One' Has Become 'Anywhere but China' (2025-03-13 Michael Mariani) — Supply chain research company Z2Data analysis article, including "What began as the cautious 'China Plus One' strategy—where companies maintained China operations while establishing backup manufacturing elsewhere—has evolved into something far more decisive: 'Anywhere but China'" verbatim, Taiwanese firms distributed layout key timeline and motivation.↩
  54. The Diplomat: Taiwan Is Rewiring North America's AI Hardware Chain (2025-08) — From geopolitical strategic perspective analysis Taiwan AI hardware chain how to restructure North America production geography (Mexico / Texas / Wisconsin), supplement Dallas Fed 2025 data beyond policy driving force and Taiwanese firms investment decision model.↩
About this article This article was collaboratively written with AI assistance and community review.
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Computex Taipei International Computer Show Jensen Huang NVIDIA AI Servers Semiconductors Stan Shih Supply Chain CeBIT AI Together Lisa Su Zen architecture Taipei IT Month B2B shift Physical AI
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