ASUS today introduced the X870 MAX Gaming WiFi7 motherboard. This Socket AM5 motherboard comes in two color-based variants—its default black, and the white X870 MAX Gaming WiFi7 W, which features a white PCB, besides white/silver heatsinks. The X870 MAX Gaming is positioned below even the TUF Gaming X870 Plus, and separate from the company's Prime series. It is designed to lure gaming PC builders away from the likes of the GIGABYTE Gaming X and MSI Gaming Plus series. The board is built in the ATX form-factor and draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and two 8-pin EPS connectors. It features a 12+2+1 phase CPU VRM that uses 80 A-rated power stages.

The Socket AM5 is wired to four DDR5 DIMM slots, a PCI-Express 5.0 x16 slot, and just the one M.2 Gen 5 x4 NVMe slot. The second CPU-attached NVMe interface is wired out as M.2 Gen 4 x4. The third M.2 slot is Gen 4 x4 and wired to the X870 FCH. The board also puts out four SATA 6 Gbps ports. Besides the main Gen 5 x16 PEG slot, the board has three other physical x16 slots, two of these are Gen 4 x1, and the last one Gen 3 x1. Display connectivity includes an HDMI, and a DisplayPort that's wired to the board's two 40 Gbps USB4 type-C ports. Other USB ports include a 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2; three 5 Gbps USB 3.1 Gen 1, and four USB 2.0, there is a 20 Gbps USB-C header, besides two additional 5 Gbps ports through a standard header.

Here are some of the first pictures of the ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Extreme, the company's new flagship Socket AM5 motherboard. Until now, the company's AMD 800-series chipset motherboard lineup topped off with the ROG Crosshair X870E Hero for connectivity and the ROG Crosshair X870E Apex for overclocking chops, and the company is looking to push things up a notch, especially given that AMD's Ryzen 9000X3D series is established as the fastest processor series for gaming PC builds. This board is designed to compete with the likes of the MSI MEG X870E Godlike and the GIGABYTE X870E AORUS Xtreme. It is firmly into the E-ATX territory in terms of dimensions. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, two 8-pin EPS, and an 8-pin PCIe power. It uses the company's most powerful CPU VRM solution for the AMD platform, above even the 22-phase solution of the Hero.

The ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Extreme comes with a large number of 4-pin PWM fan and water pump headers. Storage connectivity includes one M.2-22110 Gen 5 on the board with a chunky heat pipe-based cooler; a second Gen 5 and two Gen 4 slots on the board, and a DIMM.2 module that provides additional slots. The expansion slots provided are a PCI-Express 5.0 x16 and a second PCI-Express 4.0 x4 (physical x16). There are a boat-load of USB ports, including a couple of 40 Gbps USB4, 20 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, and several 10 Gbps and 5 Gbps USB 3.2 ports. Networking interfaces include Wi-Fi 7, a 10 GbE, and a 5 GbE. The board features the company's most premium onboard audio solution that probably combines a Realtek ALC4082 with an ESS ES9219 DAC for the front channels, an audiophile-grade OPAMP, and premium capacitors. The board offers many of the exclusive overclocker-friendly features found in the company's ROG Maximus Extreme motherboards. A star-attraction is its 4-inch true-color display over the VRM heatsinks, which can be programmed to show anything. There is no word on availability or pricing.

TrendForce reveals that the combined revenue of the world's top 10 IC design houses reached approximately US$249.8 billion in 2024, marking a 49% YoY increase. The booming AI industry has fueled growth across the semiconductor sector, with NVIDIA leading the charge, posting an astonishing 125% revenue growth, widening its lead over competitors, and solidifying its dominance in the IC industry.

Looking ahead to 2025, advancements in semiconductor manufacturing will further enhance AI computing power, with LLMs continuing to emerge. Open-source models like DeepSeek could lower AI adoption costs, accelerating AI penetration from servers to personal devices. This shift positions edge AI devices as the next major growth driver for the semiconductor industry.

Realtek Semiconductor will participate in the globally acclaimed top technology event—the Embedded World 2025 in Nuremberg, Germany, from March 11 to 13. Highlighted exhibits will include networking multimedia applications, Ethernet solutions for various transmission media, industrial Ethernet switch application solutions, as well as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi/IoT solutions. These exhibits will demonstrate Realtek's innovation in multimedia and communication networks, combined with AI-powered smart applications, providing customers with stable, reliable, and high-performance solutions.

Networked Multimedia Application
Realtek provides end customers with a highly secure, sustainably upgradeable, open-source, and shared Linux platform. Designed to meet the needs of SoCs, it leverages an advanced 12 nm process, a high-performance CPU/GPU, and Edge AI computing with NPU to fully support 4K video decoding and all HDMI 2.1 functions. It also enables audio and video transmission via DisplayPort. Additionally, the platform features high integration with multiple interfaces, including USB, PCIe, GPIO, UART, and SDIO. For system integration, Realtek incorporates its NICs (1G/2.5G/10 Gbps) and Wi-Fi/BT chips. SoCs are able to seamlessly connect to panels of various sizes via built-in MIPI or eDP, ensuring compatibility with networked multimedia applications.

Realtek Semiconductor Corp., one of the world's leading network and multimedia IC providers, launched the world's first multi-port USB4 hub controller (RTS5490), integrating USB Type-C/PD functionality and passing USB-IF full certification (TID: 11930).

Realtek's RTS5490 boasts a revolutionary speed upgrade, increasing the bandwidth from USB 3.2's 20 Gbps to USB4's 40 Gbps. It integrates protocols such as USB 3.2, USB-C, USB PD, PCIe, and DisplayPort while remaining backward compatible with existing USB 3.2 and USB 2.0 devices. With the RTS5490 USB4 hub controller, users can effortlessly expand their computer's ports with just a USB-C cable, offering ultra-fast data transfer, multi-display capabilities, and 240 W rapid charging.

BIOSTAR, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, PC peripherals, and IPC solutions, proudly unveils the B860MT-E PRO motherboard, designed to meet the growing needs of modern office users, home entertainment, and mid-range gaming. The B860MT-E PRO, built on Intel's B860 single-chip architecture, supports Intel Core Ultra 9/7/5 processors, providing outstanding performance and advanced AI PC features for seamless computing, entertainment, and gaming. With support for up to 256 GB of 4-DIMM DDR5 memory, it effortlessly handles heavy multitasking and demanding generative AI applications.

Featuring PCIe 5.0 M.2, the latest storage technology, it offers a significant performance boost—doubling the speed of its predecessor with a data transfer rate of up to 32 GT/s and a maximum bandwidth of 128 GB/s for smooth, high-speed communication. Backward compatibility ensures a seamless user experience for those upgrading their systems.

Realtek Semiconductor will participate in Network X 2024 (October 08~10, 2024), an event being held in Paris, France, that will bring together over five thousand people from all over the world to include senior network infrastructure and service professionals from telcos, leading vendors, industry bodies, governments, analysts, and media to showcase the latest trending products, solutions, and services. Realtek will exhibit its highly integrated 2.5G Ethernet switch solutions and complete xPON broadband solutions to meet various bandwidth application needs.

Highly Integrated 2.5G Ethernet Switch Solution
With breakthroughs in large language model technology, generative AI has ushered in a new era of AI applications. The demand for AI applications is no longer confined to high-end cloud applications but has extended from the cloud to edge computing and is becoming increasingly widespread. Consequently, the high bandwidth requirements at the edge have become more critical. Currently, edge network speeds commonly use 1GbE. To address the growing bandwidth demands of AI applications, Realtek has developed a 2.5G Ethernet switch solution that integrates various technologies to provide 2.5GbE downstream bandwidth and 10GbE upstream bandwidth. This solution is designed to support future AI-enabled endpoint devices, such as AI PCs and AI notebooks, to meet their high bandwidth needs. Additionally, this 2.5G Ethernet switch solution can be used in Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7 wireless routers, supporting high bandwidth applications to meet user demands for high bandwidth at the edge in AI applications.

The Ameba RTL8730E was selected as the core of the new module as it fulfills the high demands of technically complex products while offering leading-edge size, power consumption and cost. Realtek Product Line Manager for IoT, Angus Hsu, said: "We are thrilled to be able to work with StreamUnlimited, a professional leader in the audio industry with a strong design capability, innovative thinking and wide market coverage across a range of segments ideally suited to our RTL8730E product."

StreamUnlimited, the innovative leader in embedded audio software and hardware solutions, supports customers through product development, certification, launch and long-term maintenance of products based on the same StreamSDK software stack. Markus Rutz, StreamUnlimited CTO, said: "We are delighted to work with Realtek for our Stream210 module, which complements our diverse family of certified modules, providing product managers across a wide variety of market sectors with the tools to be innovative, disruptive and ambitious when it comes to creating complete product families with StreamUnlimited."

MSI unveils the X870E and X870 motherboards, designed to harness the full power of AMD's Ryzen 9000 Series desktop processors. The lineup includes four models: MEG X870E GODLIKE, MPG X870E CARBON WIFI, MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI, and PRO X870-P WIFI. These motherboards deliver exceptional value and performance with cutting-edge features and exclusive MSI innovations. Offering top components, innovative features, and easy DIY options, MSI's X870E and X870 motherboards make building and using your PC seamless.

Introducing MSI's Ultra Connect feature in the X870E and X870 motherboards, offering next-gen networking, storage, and expansion. With built-in 5G LAN and Wi-Fi 7, users can enjoy lightning-fast speeds, reaching up to 5.8 Gbps. As well as TriLink Connectivity, Expansion is made to future-proof with PCIe Gen 5.0 for next-gen graphics cards and SSDs. The USB4 ports, which are Thunderbolt compatible, enable fast data transfers and support a wide range of next-gen devices, including display output through USB-C.

MSI today launched its first wave of Socket AM5 motherboards based on the new AMD X870E and AMD X870 chipsets, which come with drop-in support for the new Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" processors, and new platform I/O. The company debuted products across its four key consumer motherboard brands—MEG, MPG, MAG, and PRO. Leading the pack is the flagship MEG X870E GODLIKE, followed by the performance segment MPG X870E Carbon WIFI, the mid-range MAG X870 Tomahawk WIFI, and the mainstream PRO X870-P WIFI.

The MEG X870E GODLIKE isn't just a flagship motherboard with no feature spared, but designed to be a piece of jewelry. It is shrouded almost entirely in heatsinks. Almost all its onboard I/O faces the front-end, including a 24-pin ATX, and two optional 8-pin PCIe power inputs. The two 8-pin EPS power inputs are exposed near the CPU socket area. A 27-phase VRM powers the CPU, with an active fan-heatsink solution that uses a series of aluminium fin-stack heatsinks with heat-pipes spreading heat among them. The CPU is wired to four DDR5 DIMM slots, supporting over DDR5-8000, with preparation for higher memory OC speeds that may come up in the future. Expansion slots include a PCI-Express 5.0 x16, a second x16 (electrical Gen 4), and a x4. There are four M.2 NVMe slots, three of these are Gen 5, and one Gen 4.

GIGABYTE just released its second AMD 800-series chipset motherboard following last week's debut of the X870E AORUS Master, the more affordable X870 AORUS Elite WIFI7. This board is based on the slightly more affordable AMD X870 (non-E) chipset, which offers connectivity nearly identical to that of the previous-generation AMD B650E, but with the addition of USB4. The board is built in the ATX form-factor, and features a 6-layer PCB. It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and two 8-pin EPS power connectors. The CPU VRM solution consists of a 16+2+2 phase setup, with the vCore side of it being 8-phase with phase doubling. The Socket AM5 is wired to four DDR5 DIMM slots for up to 256 GB of memory.

Expansion slots include a PCI-Express 5.0 x16 wired to the CPU, a PCI-Express 4.0 x16 (electrical Gen 4 x4), and a third PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (electrical Gen 3 x2). The main Gen 5 x16 PEG slot gets a quick-release lever. You press a button, and it ejects the graphics card. Storage connectivity includes three M.2 Gen 5 x4 slots, two of these are wired to the CPU's dedicated Gen 5 x4 NVMe lanes, while the third slot subtracts 8 lanes from the Gen 5 x16 PEG slot. There is a fourth M.2 slot, which is Gen 4 x4, and wired to the X870 FCH. All four slots get heatsinks. Four SATA 6 Gbps ports make for the rest of the storage connectivity.

New insights from Omdia's Desktop Monitor Intelligence Service show the gaming monitor market, featuring refresh rates over 120 Hz, is expected to grow by 9% YoY to 24.7 million units in 2024. Meanwhile, the smart monitor market, equipped with operating systems and streaming service portals, is projected to expand by 63% YoY to 1.2 million units.

In 1Q24, desktop monitor shipments hit 30.7 million units, a 5% increase year-on-year (YoY). The industry has been growing steadily since 3Q23, overcoming post-pandemic logistical disruptions. Notably, the gaming monitor market and smart monitors are expanding rapidly. This growth is driven by added value and high functionality, particularly in both monitor categories.

MSI introduced the PRO B650-A WIFI, a feature-rich entry-mainstream Socket AM5 motherboard under its PRO series. Built in the standard ATX form-factor, the board features a 6-layer PCB, and includes heatsinks for all its M.2 slots, The board draws power from a 24-pin ATX and two 8-pin EPS power connectors and uses a 14+2+1 phase VRM solution that's capable of even the top 170 W TDP Ryzen 9 chips. The CPU socket is wired to four DDR5 DIMM slots, a PCI-Express 4.0 x16 slot, and two M.2 NVMe Gen 4 slots. The board's third M.2 Gen 4 slot is wired to the B650 FCH.

The MSI PRO B650-A WIFI offers a fairly premium onboard audio solution driven by a Realtek ALC4080 CODEC. USB connectivity includes a 20 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 type-C port, three 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 type-A, four 5 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 1, and a few USB 3.2 and USB 2.0 ports by internal headers. Display outputs include HDMI and DisplayPort. Networking connectivity includes a 2.5 GbE interface driven by a Realtek 8125B controller, and an AMD/Mediatek sourced WLAN module with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. Besides the three M.2 Gen 4 slots, you get four SATA 6 Gbps ports. The board supports USB BIOS Flashback. The company didn't reveal pricing.

At Computex, Realtek was showing off a new 5 Gbps switch platform which is set to bring much more affordable high-speed Ethernet switches to the consumer market. At the core of the new switch platform sits Realtek's RTL9303 which is an eight port 10 Gbps switch controller. This was released a few years ago as a low cost 10 Gbps switch IC, but as it still required third party PHYs, it never really took off. The RTL9303 is built around an 800 MHz MIPS 34Kc CPU and supports up to 1 GB of DDR3 RAM as well as 64 MB of SPI NOR Flash for the firmware.

When combined with Realtek's RTL8251B 5 Gbps PHY, the end result is a comparably low-cost 5 Gbps switch. According to Ananadtech, Realtek is expecting a US$25 price per port, which is only about $10 more per port than your typical 2.5 Gbps switch today, even though some are as little as US$10 per port. When combined with a Realtek RTL8126 PCIe based 5 Gbps NIC which retails from around US$30, 5 Gbps Ethernet looks like a very sensible option in terms of price/performance. Admittedly 2.5 Gbps Ethernet cards can be had for as little as $13, but they started out at a higher price point compared to what 5 Gbps NICs are already selling for. Meanwhile, 10 Gbps NICs are still stuck at around US$80-90, with switches in most cases costing at least US$45 per port, but often a lot more. 5 Gbps Ethernet also has the advantage of being able to operate on CAT 5e cabling at up to 60 metres and CAT 6 cabling at up 100 metres, which means there's no need to replace older cabling to benefit from it.

Currently, only Phison offers widely available performance PCIe 5.0 NVMe controllers for consumer SSDs, although the competition is heating up and Chinese SSD controller makers MaxioTek and InnoGrit, as well as Taiwanese Silicon Motion either have or will be releasing competing controllers this year. However, it also looks like Taiwanese Realtek will be joining the fray, albeit a tad late, as their upcoming RTS5782 PCIe 5.0 NVMe controller, but the company didn't reveal a release schedule. Although Realtek is known as a more budget friendly chipmaker, regardless of the product segment, the RTS5782 will be an 8-channel controller with support for 3600 MT/s NAND, and it will have a dedicated DRAM cache using either DDR4, LPDDR3, LPDDR4 or LPDDR4x memory. It's said to deliver sequential read speeds of up to 14 GB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 12 GB/s, with random read and write IOPS hitting 2500K.

Realtek is also working on a pair of new DRAM-less models, the PCIe 4.0 RTS5776DL and the PCIe r5.0 RTS5781DL, both having support for 4-channel flash, but still supporting NAND speeds of up to 3600 MT/s. Engineering samples of the RTS5776DL are expected to be available before the end of this year, and it's said to deliver sequential read and write speeds of up to 7400 MB/s and random read and write IOPS of 1200K. The RTS5781DL will enter the engineering sample stage in the beginning of 2025 and will up the sequential read and write performance to 10 GB/s and the random read and write IOPS to 1400K. In addition to the new NVMe controllers, Realtek also had its RTS5736DL on display at Computex, which the company claims is the world's lowest power DRAM-less SATA SSD controller, that also supports size of up to 8 TB. Realtek claims the RTS5736DL is an ideal solution to pair with a USB 3.x bridge chip for external drives.

Asustor unveils the NAS for everyone—the Drivestor 2 Lite. The Drivestor 2 Lite and Drivestor Pro Gen 2 use efficient Realtek RTD1619B Quad-Core CPUs. The increased CPU frequency at 1.7 GHz and increases in the performance of the GPU make this the entry-level NAS to have inside your home or small office. Take advantage of blistering speeds of up to 2.5 Gbps on the Drivestor Pro Gen 2 when connecting with a compatible switch in a 2.5-Gigabit ecosystem to instantly upgrade your high-speed home network environment.

Btrfs for ASUSTOR NAS devices featuring Realtek CPUs is here! Schedule or manually create Btrfs snapshots in Snapshot Center to help protect data in real time and restore data. If data is encrypted by ransomware, snapshots can be the first line of defense towards recovery and is often able to turn back the clock and reverse changes. In addition to snapshots, the new Drivestor Pro Gen 2 and Drivestor 2 Lite NAS devices continue ASUSTOR's commitment to easy, safe and convenient backup technologies, when combined with snapshots, make your data safe and secure.

Patriot Memory brought their latest ware to the 2024 International CES that use recent advancements in tech on both the SSD and memory fronts. On the SSD front, this year sees 14 GB/s capable PCIe Gen 5 NVMe SSDs thanks to Phison's E26 Max14um controller; and a new crop of USB4 portable SSDs; while the memory front sees DDR5 speeds go far north of DDR5-6000, thanks to on-module CKDs. Patriot showed us examples of each.

First up, there's the Patriot Viper PV573 Gen 5 NVMe SSD. This thing comes in capacities of up to 4 TB, and combines a Phison E26 Max14um controller with Micron's latest B58R TLC NAND flash chips that offer 2400 MT/s per flash channel. The controller also gets some incremental thermal optimizations, which means the cooling solution for the PV573 is a 16.5 mm-tall fan-heatsink. The drive offers up to 14 GB/s sequential reads, with up to 12 GB/s sequential writes. There's also a slightly de-rated version of this drive, the Viper PV553, which has the same combination of controller and NAND flash, but with transfer speeds of up to 12.4 GB/s reads, with up to 11.8 GB/s writes.

Today marks the launch of not just two new incredibly well-designed NAS devices, but also two new features brand new to the ASUSTOR line of NAS devices with ARM processors. The introduction of the Drivestor 2 Pro Gen2 and Drivestor 4 Pro Gen2 come with an upgraded SoC, providing 21% more performance, which increases read and write speeds and performance for the features and apps available for the Drivestor Pro Gen2. The Drivestor Pro Gen2 series comes with 2.5-Gigabit Ethernet, hot-swappable hard drive bays, hardware transcoding, tool-free design and more! The upgraded iGPU found in the Drivestor Pro Gen2 now gives even better performance when transcoding multimedia.

The all-new Drivestor Pro Gen2 series comes with a new killer feature. Btrfs is now supported on the Drivestor Pro Gen2, a first for ASUSTOR NAS devices running ARM CPUs. Btrfs helps protect data by enabling snapshots of data at certain points in time and is able to rewind the clock should any unintentional modifications be made and restore data if needed.

TrendForce reports that 3Q23 has been a historic quarter for the world's leading IC design houses as total revenue soared 17.8% to reach a record-breaking US$44.7 billion. This remarkable growth is fueled by a robust season of stockpiling for smartphones and laptops, combined with a rapid acceleration in the shipment of generative AI chips and components. NVIDIA, capitalizing on the AI boom, emerged as the top performer in revenue and market share. Notably, analog IC supplier Cirrus Logic overtook US PMIC manufacturer MPS to snatch the tenth spot, driven by strong demand for smartphone stockpiling.

NVIDIA's revenue soared 45.7% to US$16.5 billion in the third quarter, bolstered by sustained demand for generative AI and LLMs. Its data center business—accounting for nearly 80% of its revenue—was a key driver in this exceptional growth.

BIOSTAR, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and storage devices, today is excited to introduce the H510MHP-E 3.0 motherboard, designed to run 10th/11th Generation Intel Core Processors. The H510MHP-E 3.0 motherboard excels as the ideal choice for a wide range of users. It offers reliable performance for office tasks, immerses home entertainment enthusiasts with HDMI support, streamlines data management for system integrators, and empowers holiday season HTPC setups with its impressive performance. With its versatile features, this motherboard caters to diverse needs seamlessly.

The H510MHP-E 3.0 motherboard boasts a robust set of specifications to meet the demands of business and casual use. It offers versatility and compatibility, supporting both 10th and 11th-generation Intel Core processors. With its Intel H470 single-chip architecture, this motherboard ensures efficient and seamless operation.

AAEON's UP brand, renowned for its extensive selection of developer boards and compact Mini PCs, is thrilled to announce the launch of the UP Squared i12 Edge. This Mini PC, the smallest in AAEON's lineup to host 12th Generation Intel Core Processors, measures just 130 mm x 94 mm x 68 mm. It has been designed as a compact and easily deployable system specifically tailored for industrial automation applications, such as AGV and IoT Gateway. The UP Squared i12 Edge offers a wide range of peripheral device interfaces tailored to its target industries. These include two USB Type-A ports and one USB Type-C port, supporting USB 3.2 Gen 2. Additionally, it features dual-stacked RJ-45 ports for Realtek RTL8111H-CG gigabit ethernet connectivity.

One of the standout features of the UP Squared i12 Edge is its support for CNVi via its M.2 2230 E-Key interface, making it an ideal choice for wireless data exchange with retrofitted factory equipment in the manufacturing sector. Furthermore, it offers support for AI modules through an M.2 2280 M-Key slot, enhancing the capabilities of its robust CPU lineup, which includes up to i7 SKUs from the 12th Generation Intel Core platform. Consequently, the UP Squared i12 Edge is an excellent candidate for AGV applications. Additionally, there is an option to add an M.2 2230 E-Key for Wi-Fi connectivity, which, when paired with the system's onboard TPM 2.0, caters to users interested in using the product as an IoT Gateway.

Fueled by an AI-driven inventory stocking frenzy across the supply chain, TrendForce reveals that Q2 revenue for the top 10 global IC design powerhouses soared to US $38.1 billion, marking a 12.5% quarterly increase. In this rising tide, NVIDIA seized the crown, officially dethroning Qualcomm as the world's premier IC design house, while the remainder of the leaderboard remained stable.

AI charges ahead, buoying IC design performance amid a seasonal stocking slump
NVIDIA is reaping the rewards of a global transformation. Bolstered by the global demand from CSPs, internet behemoths, and enterprises diving into generative AI and large language models, NVIDIA's data center revenue skyrocketed by a whopping 105%. A deluge of shipments, including the likes of their advanced Hopper and Ampere architecture HGX systems and the high-performing InfinBand, played a pivotal role. Beyond that, both gaming and professional visualization sectors thrived under the allure of fresh product launches. Clocking a Q2 revenue of US$11.33 billion (a 68.3% surge), NVIDIA has vaulted over both Qualcomm and Broadcom to seize the IC design throne.

We know that out of our Framework Laptop 16 Deep Dive series, this is some of the information you're most eager to hear. We read every Framework Laptop review, browse the Community and subreddit, and run regular post-purchase feedback surveys to learn what you want, and we use that to inform how we build products. Some of the most frequent asks on the Framework Laptop 13 were around improving speaker loudness and extending battery life, both of which we've delivered on this year. With the increased space we have inside the Framework Laptop 16, we advanced these areas even further, with a new high capacity 85Wh battery and excellent quad speakers powered by a smart amp.

We custom designed both the battery pack and cell, working with ATL, one of the biggest battery makers in the world and the maker of the 55Wh and 61Wh packs for Framework Laptop 13. The pack has a 4S1P architecture, meaning there are four lithium ion cells placed in series to reach the 15.48 V nominal pack voltage. A major improvement we've made based on feedback from the Framework Laptop 13 is on the battery connector. A connector on a short cable was one of the more finicky parts to handle, so we've switched to an integrated blade-type connector that makes battery swaps much easier. Finally, we've made sure that the battery has a long usage lifetime, supporting 80% capacity typically after 1,000 cycles.

ASRock Industrial is introducing new choices in industrial motherboards powered by 13th Gen Intel Core Processors (Raptor Lake-S) with up to 24 cores and 32 threads that boost computer-intensive edge performance. They come equipped with Intel W680, Q670, and H610 chipsets, and offer support for up to DDR5-5600 memory modules and PCIe Gen 5, allowing expanded possibilities and seamless integration within industry-specific applications.

By harnessing the power of the 13th Gen Intel Core Processors, they leap up to 1.04x/1.34x/1.25x faster in single-thread, multi-thread, and CPU image classification inference performance, respectively, compared to the preceding 12th Gen Intel Core processors. The new 13th Gen Intel CPU motherboards with DDR5 support, available in Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX, and ATX form factors, have been specifically designed to cater to the unique requirements of the Edge AIoT applications in commerce, automation, robot, entertainment, and security industries.

TrendForce reports that inventory reduction in Q1 fell short of expectations and coincided with the industry's traditional off-season, leading to overall subdued demand. However, due to new product release and a surge in urgent orders for specialized specifications, Q1 revenue of the global top ten IC design houses remained on par with 4Q22, with a modest QoQ increase of 0.1% for a total revenue of US$33.86 billion. Changes in ranking included Cirrus Logic slipping from the top ten as well as the ninth and tenth positions being replaced by WillSemi and MPS, respectively. The rest of the rankings remained unchanged.

The smartphone supply continues to grapple with overstock, but AI applications are entering a period of rapid growth
Qualcomm witnessed an uptick in its revenue, largely attributed to the launch and subsequent shipments of its latest flagship chip, the Snapdragon 8Gen2. The company saw 6.1% in QoQ growth in its smartphone business, which effectively offset the downturn from its automotive and IoT sectors. As a result, Qualcomm's Q1 revenue increased marginally by 0.6%, cementing its position at the top of the pack with a market share of 23.5%.