ON TRACK | Samsung to take Intel’s chip crown

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is expected to report its best-ever quarterly profit in the second quarter, with soaring memory chip sales pushing it passed Intel Corp as the biggest semiconductor maker by revenue for the first time.

The world’s largest memory chip maker is the among the biggest beneficiaries of soaring demand for processing firepower on smartphones and servers, which has fueled an industry super-cycle amid limited supply growth.

Underscoring its dominant position, Samsung said on Tuesday it plans to invest some $18.6 billion in South Korea as it seeks to extend its lead in memory chips and next-generation displays for smartphones.

The South Korean tech giant, Asia’s third-largest company by market capitalization, is now poised to knock Intel off the top of the global semiconductor market-share rankings for the first time since 1991.

“From the second quarter, Samsung will become No. 1 in market share due to the recent increase in data centers and demand for solid-state drives,” NH Investment & Securities analyst Peter Lee wrote in a note to clients.

Samsung’s April-June operating profit is expected to leap 67 percent from a year earlier to 13.1 trillion won ($11.4 billion), a new high, according to the average forecast from a Thomson Reuters survey of 18 analysts.

The same survey expects July-September profit to be even higher at 13.8 trillion won.

Solid sales of the Galaxy S8 smartphone launched in April likely provided an additional boost, keeping the firm ahead of rival Apple Inc (AAPL.O) as the world’s top smartphone maker.

The S8’s performance has reassured investors whose nerves were shaken last year by the costly withdrawal of Samsung’s premium Galaxy Note 7 due to fire-prone batteries.

Samsung shares are trading at a near-record high of 2.35 million won each as of Tuesday. They have gained 30 percent so far this year on top of a 43 percent surge in 2016.

In the pipeline

“The Galaxy S8 series has been out for more than 2 months now and we see similar traction as the Galaxy S7 series,” Counterpoint analyst Tom Kang said.

Samsung would sell about 49 million S8s by the end of its first full-year release, in line with first-year sales of the Galaxy S7, he said.

Samsung is also preparing to unveil the Galaxy Note 8 in August, a source told Reuters, restoring the company’s schedule of market-moving gadget releases after the interruption of the Note 7 debacle.

The company will issue earnings guidance early on Friday but will not disclose details on its performance until late July.

Nomura has predicted DRAM chip prices will continue to rise in the second half of 2017 due to limited supply and strong demand driven by servers.

Demand for solid-state drives (SSD) and smartphones would maintain profits for producers of NAND semiconductors, despite an easing of a production bottleneck, it said.

source: interaksyon.com

Acer A100 F2 Server Series, High-Level Computing, Entry-Level Price

There are a few words that could best describe the Acer A100 F2 server series, highlighting the benefits it offers to businesses and other potential clients who may need to install rack and tower servers in their office.

By being “focused” means Acer A100 F2 series servers has small and medium-sized firms in mind, with its wide range of server products that come in various sizes and specs ready to make sure that customers have the server power and capability that will meet their business’ computing needs.

“Simplicity” is also part of the Acer A100 F2 servers’ attributes. With the exception of perhaps the entry level AT110 server, the Acer servers in this line contain an onboard management port and Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) chip that allows for easy remote management. Add to that the various software management tools available at no extra cost, plus an option kit business model that allows more flexibility for future upgrades.

Acer servers are also an ideal choice for businesses who seek “cost-effectivity” as it delivers only the best value for its customers, and the fact that Acer continues to be a “reliable” partner for the business, with its full line of enterprise-level, high mean time between failures or high-MTBF parts, coupled with meticulous reliability standards help ensure that Acer’s enterprise products are readily available.

You could expect nothing less from a company like Acer, one of the world’s most trusted IT companies, as it provides an “end-to-end” range of commercial products from tablets to notebooks and PCs, including high-end servers and even storage devices.

So how do you know which server to choose?

For an entry- to mid-level business with a branch network that requires entry-level server needs like email, Web hosting, basic virtualization, file and print and data management, the AT110 F2 Tower server is a perfect match to deliver just the right performance.

The AT110 F2 Tower server has an Intel Xeon E3-1200 series processor up to quad-core with 3.5GHz E3-1280 processor. It has 4 dual in-line memory module (DIMM) slots for up to a maximum 16GB DDR3 memory, four 3.5” bays for storage bays that deliver up to 4TB storage capacity and supports both SATA and SAS drives, 3 PCIe slots and 1 PCI slot, video port and 6 USB ports that allow for further expansion, and a 450W 80 PLUS Bronze power supply, which makes it more efficient that most power supplies.

On the other hand, the AT150 F2 Tower server is perfect for businesses with service hubs, entry-level virtualization environments and multitasking needs. It has an Intel Xeon E5-2400 series processor that can be maxxed up to 8 core with 2.3GHz, 12 DIMM slots for up to a maximum 192GB DDR3 memory.

source: mb.com.ph