Mass production at TSMC's Phoenix, Arizona Fab 21 facility has been delayed until 2025, but the top brass are keen to get some activity started at their North American foundry—it is possible that they want to avoid potential contract breaches, caused by various setbacks. Taiwan's Money DJ (interpreted by TrendForce) reports that a pilot scheme will be implemented by the first quarter of 2024—industry sources believe that a small batch trial run will result in 4000 to 5000 wafer starts per month (WSPM). Setup delays have dropped projected efficiency ratings—analysts reckon that the Arizona plant cannot match the sheer effectiveness of operations back in Taiwan.

TrendForce cites a number of factors, including: "a shortage of skilled equipment installation personnel, local union protests, and differences in overseas safety regulations have caused delays in equipment installation." TSMC chairman Mark Liu expressed optimism about the situation earlier this month—citing significant progress (at the Fab 21 site) over the past five months as an early sign of success for the project. Insiders claim that TSMC is considering a major upgrade of its currently in-construction Japanese facility—extra capacity at the existing location and a second foundry could be on the table.

TSMC's Japanese facilities are set to fabricate "mature-technology chips" (28 nm and 22 nm) once construction at the site concludes next year—this $8.6 billion fab on Kyushu Island is proving to be a promising prospect for company leadership back in Taiwan. A Reuters report suggests that more ambitious plans are afoot for Japan as a key production base—two anonymous insiders claim that problems encountered at the Arizona plant have caused a shift in focus onto other global TSMC sites.

There is potential for further expansion and upgrades in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture—TSMC has reportedly taken an "increasingly optimistic view" of Japan's work culture, relatively cheap-to-build facility and a co-operative government. A smooth ramp-up of the first fabrication facility is the primary goal in 2024, but adjusted plans could add more capacity. The insiders think that a second site is also a possibility, with consideration for more advanced chip making.

We're happy to share that ordering is now available in Taiwan! That includes the in-stock Framework Laptop 13 (13th Gen Intel Core) with Traditional Chinese keyboard, pre-orders for AMD Ryzen 7040 Series and Framework Laptop 16, and the modules in the Framework Marketplace. This is an especially important launch for us because our manufacturing site for laptops, our main warehouse, and about a third of the Framework team itself are all in Taiwan. This also means that shipping is going to be ultra fast for local customers! As always, we're continuing to build out infrastructure to reach more of you across the world. We're in 13 countries now, and actively preparing for more. The best way to let us know where to go next is to register your interest on the country selection page.

Starting production on Framework Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen 7040 Series)
We're also excited to announce that we've started mass production of Framework Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen 7040 Series)! A set of electrical issues we found during validation along with late delivery of firmware from our upstream suppliers required us to delay our original production schedule. We've been sending bi-weekly status updates on this to customers in Batches 1-3 whose orders were at risk of delay. This week, we kicked off SMT (surface mount production of Mainboards) in Taiwan, which feeds into FATP (final assembly, test, and pack out of laptops) in the same factory, after which we'll transfer inventory to our warehouse and start shipments. We've doubled production capacity and moved into a new, larger logistics warehouse since the launch of 13th Gen Intel Core earlier this year, so we're confident we'll be able to move through the pre-order backlog quickly.

Taiwan's Economic Daily reckons that a freshly formed partnership between TSMC, Broadcom, and NVIDIA will result in the development of cutting-edge silicon photonics. The likes of IBM, Intel and various academic institutes are already deep into their own research and development processes, but the alleged new alliance is said to focus on advancing AI computer hardware. The report cites a significant allocation of—roughly 200—TSMC staffers onto R&D involving the integration of silicon photonic technologies into high performance computing (HPC) solutions. They are very likely hoping that the usage of optical interconnects (on a silicon medium) will result in greater data transfer rates between and within microchips. Other benefits include longer transmission distances and a lower consumption of power.

TSMC vice president Yu Zhenhua has placed emphasis on innovation, in a similar fashion to his boss, within the development process (industry-wide): "If we can provide a good silicon photonics integrated system, we can solve the two key issues of energy efficiency and AI computing power. This will be a new one...Paradigm shift. We may be at the beginning of a new era." The firm is facing unprecedented demand from its clients—it hopes to further expand its advanced chip packaging capacity to address these issues by late 2024. A shift away from the limitations of "conventional electric" data transmissions could bring next generation AI compute GPUs onto the market by 2025.

TSMC Chairman Mark Liu was asked to comment on all things artificial intelligence-related at the SEMICON Taiwan 2023 industry event. According to a Nikkei Asia report, he foresees supply constraints lasting until the tail end of 2024: "It's not the shortage of AI chips. It's the shortage of our chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (COWOS) capacity...Currently, we can't fulfill 100% of our customers' needs, but we try to support about 80%. We think this is a temporary phenomenon. After our expansion of advanced chip packaging capacity, it should be alleviated in one and a half years." He cites a recent and very "sudden" spike in demand for COWOS, with numbers tripling within the span of a year. Market leader NVIDIA relies on TSMC's advanced packaging system—most notably with the production of highly-prized A100 and H100 series Tensor Core compute GPUs.

These issues are deemed a "temporary" problem—it could take around 18 months to eliminate production output "bottlenecks." TSMC is racing to bolster its native activities with new facilities—plans for a new $2.9 billion advanced chip packaging plant (in Miaoli County) were disclosed during summer time. Liu reckons that industry-wide innovation is necessary to meet growing demand through new methods to "connect, package and stack chips." Liu elaborated: "We are now putting together many chips into a tightly integrated massive interconnect system. This is a paradigm shift in semiconductor technology integration." The TSMC boss reckons that processing units fielding over one trillion transistors are viable within the next decade: "it's through packaging with multiple chips that this could be possible.".

Yesterday we pre-announced that we're developing an SD Expansion Card. Normally we don't announce a product until we've fully locked the feature-set, brought up the necessary suppliers and manufacturing environment, completed most of the engineering and a substantial level of testing and validation, and are on a high confidence path to a specific release date at a specific price. This is because development of brand new products requires charting a course into the unknown. We set a target for what the product will be from the start, but as we proceed and learn, we often need to adjust the schedule, scope, and cost, and sometimes even need to outright pause or cancel development. Announcing just before shipping is how most companies operate to reduce churn and public uncertainty, but it means the product development process ends up extremely opaque.

We decided we're going to treat this one product on our roadmap a little differently. A full-size SD Expansion Card is consistently the most requested Expansion Card by the community, which makes it a great one to open up. We're just at the start of the process now, and Hyelim on our Marketing team is creating a new YouTube series to share updates and insights as we go through the New Product Introduction (NPI) process. Take a look at the first video (below) and let us know what you think as we complete (or don't complete) the product.

Framework products are now available to order in three more countries: Italy, Spain, and Belgium! That includes Framework Laptop 13, Framework Laptop 16 pre-orders, and the range of modules and parts in the Framework Marketplace. We have Italian, Spanish, and Belgian keyboard layouts available as well. This brings the total number of countries we're in up to 12 (US, Canada, Germany, France, UK, Netherlands, Ireland, Austria, Australia, Italy, Spain, Belgium) and we're still on track to open ordering in Taiwan later this summer. We know there are more of you out there who want upgradeable, repairable, customizable products, and we're continuing to build the infrastructure to expand to more of the world. We prioritize countries based both on the operational complexity and on community interest. The best way to help us gauge demand is by signing up for the waitlist for your country.

13th Gen Intel Core now in stock
We've shipped out the last batch of pre-orders, and the Framework Laptop 13 (13th Gen Intel Core) is now in stock and shipping from inventory, including for shipments to the three new countries. This means after placing an order, your laptop will ship within five business days from our warehouse in Taiwan. If you're past the point of repair on your current system and are looking for a high-performance, upgradeable, repairable notebook, check out the reviews from The Verge, Tom's Guide, and Ars Technica to figure out if a Framework Laptop 13 is for you.

T-FORCE, the gaming division of Team Group, today announced the addition of new coolers to its lineup, including the T-FORCE DARK AirFlow I SSD Cooler and the T-FORCE RT-X120 ARGB Fan. In response to the rapid development of consumer storage products, especially the transition from PCIe Gen 4 SSDs to PCIe Gen 5 SSDs, Team Group provides a complete cooling solution for the hotter temperatures of PCIe Gen 5 SSDs during high transfer speeds. Team Group cooler allows SSDs to maintain optimal operating temperatures and achieve stable high-speed operation over sustained periods, providing consumers with a flawless read and write experience with the latest Gen 5 SSDs.

The T-FORCE DARK AirFlow I SSD Cooler was granted a Taiwan Utility Model Patent this year. It uses graphene patented dual-layer structure for cooling and two 5 mm diameter pure copper heat pipes with multi-layered aluminium alloy cooling fins to multiply the cooling area and accelerate heat transfer and dispersion. In addition, it features a high-pressure smart PWM fan that can precisely adjust fan speeds according to the temperature to efficiently remove heat accumulated in the aluminium fins. The cooling structure utilizes patented ultra-thin graphene, excellent thermal conductive material, increased cooling area, and a high air pressure smart PWM fan, and other cooling methods to make the M.2 2280 Gen 5 SSDs run stably and transfer at extremely fast speeds, creating the highest performing active M.2 2280 Gen 5 SSD cooler.

TSMC today held an inauguration ceremony for its global Research and Development Center in Hsinchu, Taiwan, celebrating the Company's newest hub for bringing the next generations of semiconductor technology into reality with customers, R&D partners in industry and academia, design ecosystem partners, and senior government leaders.

The R&D Center will serve as the new home for TSMC's R&D Organization, including the researchers who will develop TSMC's leading-edge process technology at the 2-nanometer generation and beyond, as well as scientists and scholars blazing the trail with exploratory research into fields such as novel materials and transistor structures. With R&D employees already relocating to their workplaces in the new building, it will be ready for its full complement of more than 7,000 staff by September 2023.

Stan Shih, the co-founder & honorary chairman of Acer Inc., thinks that the USA will have hard time catching up with Asian semiconductor production facilities. Yahoo Taiwan managed to extract some choice comments from the multi-faceted businessman—he believes that the US government's initiative to boost native chip making will not be enough to match existing overseas strongholds. A key area of focus was volume output—Shih reckons that North America is already too far behind Asian counterpart industries, with Acer's home base of Taiwan being particularly strong (in his opinion). Workplace culture and state of the art equipment are cited as the main pillars for success.

Shih observed that that US chip industry has historically been far too reliant on outsourcing (going back many decades) production to foreign facilities, and Asia's position has been fortified thanks to long established and optimized supply chains—he thinks that the American system is not mature enough to reach parity. On a semi-related note, TSMC is reportedly struggling to get its new US facility fully operational—company chairman Mark Liu (according to Tom's Hardware): "said that the Taiwanese company would delay mass production of its Arizona fab from early 2024 to 2025, partly due to a lack of cleanroom tools necessary to produce chips at scale." TSMC has been transferring staff from its home turf to plug staffing gaps at the Phoenix facility—Liu divulged his latest batch of complaints during an earnings conference (last Thursday): "We are encountering certain challenges, as there is an insufficient number of skilled workers with the specialized expertise required for equipment installation in a semiconductor-grade facility."

IBASE Technology Inc. (TPEx: 8050), a leading provider of industrial computing solutions, unveils the SI-624-AI industrial AI computer, which won the Embedded Computing Design's Embedded World 2023 Best in Show Award in Germany. This recognition highlights the exceptional performance and innovation of the rugged system in the field of AI deep learning.

The SI-624-AI is designed to meet the demands of high-speed multiple tasks for artificial neural network applications. Powered by the 12th Gen Intel Core CPU and incorporating the NVIDIA Ampere Architecture MXM GPU, this cutting-edge system delivers image processing capabilities that enable real-time analysis of visual data, enhancing automation, quality control, and overall production efficiency for AIoT applications in smart factory, retail, transportation or medical fields. It is suitable for use as a digital signage control system in mission-critical control rooms in transportation networks, smart retail, healthcare, or AI education where remote AI data analysis capabilities are required.

A Newegg product page popped up last week, giving us a first glimpse at ASRock's Phantom Gaming Arc A770 16 GB graphics card. The e-tailer had no stock available on July 20, but the listing included an asking price of $329.99 (MSRP is $349). The Taiwanese manufacturer was radio silent at the time—no press material was released, and their own website was not updated with a product page for the 16 GB variant of its existing custom Alchemist design.

The ASRock Arc A770 Phantom Gaming 16 GB OC model's page is now live and fully accessible, and Newegg appears to have units in stock. TPU has not received any fresh PR material, so ASRock is seemingly taking a quiet approach to their new product's launch. The spec sheet shows that the card's memory clock comes in at 17.5 Gbps, which makes it a good alternative to Intel's recently discontinued A770 Limited Edition. It joins Acer's competing Predator BiFrost model in an exclusive club—these are the only 16 GB A770 custom design graphics cards available in the West.

AMD's CEO Lisa Su is reported to be visiting a number of companies in Taiwan this week—one of her objectives seems to be getting next generation AM5 desktop platforms prepped with USB4 support. Hardware news site MyDrivers believes that Asmedia played host to Team Red's leader at some point—this is a significant development given that this Taiwanese company specializes in making motherboard chipsets and USB controllers, although Su has allegedly met with other competing firms. Asmedia is reported to be a market leader in terms of implementing the latest USB4 tech, with certification awarded by the USB-IF Association.

Prior leaks have implied that the two companies are already involved with each other on a separate project—their collective goal being Thunderbolt 4 support on next-gen AMD platforms. The timing of this trip to Taiwan suggests that forthcoming AM5 motherboards offering USB4 support could be lined up for launch next year, alongside the "Zen 5" Ryzen 8000 CPU series. Boards based on current gen A620, B650 and X670 chipsets could be refreshed with the latest USB connectivity standard.

Last week Bethesda announced AMD as its exclusive partner for Starfield on the PC platform, although the short video presentation did not tease upcoming hardware/software bundles. Details of a Ryzen 7000-series CPUs promotional campaign emerged seven days later thanks to a mini-store page appearing on Newegg's retail site. The Starfield promo was not active at the time, but AMD Taiwan has made it official that the event will be going live on July 11 (at least in that territory).

According to the freshly published event site their offer will be running until September 30, and product serial numbers will not be redeemable after October 28. Eligible hardware includes the aforementioned Ryzen 7000 processor family, as well as Radeon GPUs. Thankfully Team Red has made sure to make a significant number of RDNA 2 models eligible for the Starfield incentive, with the entry point being RX 6600. All discrete RDNA 3 cards qualify—starting with RX 7600 and jumping up to the expensive RX 7900 XT and 7900 XTX GPUs. AMD Taiwan's info graphics show a two tier system—Standard Edition (NT$1990) applies to buyers of Ryzen 5/7 7000 series CPUs or Radeon 6600 through 7600 cards. Premium Edition (NT$2890) will grant a 5-day early access period—exclusive to buyers of Ryzen 9 7000 CPUs or Radeon cards starting at RX 6700.

In what could be the beginning of the end for EVGA after its spectacular withdrawal from the graphics card market that it held leadership position in; the company is reportedly winding down its desktop motherboard business, too. Korean overclocker Safedisc, writing on Coolenjoy tech forums, stated that the company's entire 170-strong workforce in its Taiwan office involved in the motherboard business, have resigned, including KINGPIN. EVGA could withdraw from the motherboard business just like it did with graphics cards—by halting sales and recalling products from the channel, and retaining them to serve as warranty stock in case existing customers claim RMA or warranty service. We have reached out to EVGA for comments.

Update 07:45 UTC: We've heard from workers at EVGA Spain "it's just another day at the office". So maybe it was only Kingpin/the OC team in TW that has resigned, or the whole story is completely untrue.

Update 16:41 UTC: We just received the following statement from EVGA:

We saw those message and they are rumors.
Our Taiwan office is still operating and Kingpin is still with EVGA.
EVGA is still doing business and supporting its customers.
Thanks for reaching out

China announced on Monday (June 3) that it would restrict exports of two rare metals——both crucial materials in the computer chip manufacturing process. The nation's Ministry of Commerce stated that their new measures were necessary to "safeguard national security and interests". The Chinese government is contending with several sanctions from Western countries—most notably their access to advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment is now heavily controlled. Reuters has contacted a number of foundries about the potential impact of rare material shipment limitations. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has shrugged it off as a minor inconvenience, their spokesperson stated: "After evaluation, we do not expect the export restrictions on raw materials gallium and germanium will have any direct impact on TSMC's production. We will continue to monitor the situation closely."

WIN Semiconductors Corp—a Taiwanese firm that specializes in the provision of gallium arsenide wafers—informed the news agency about its low-level reliance on Chinese mineral sources. They are able to sidestep and procure gallium and germanium from suppliers located in Germany, Japan, and North America. The Japanese Semiconductor Equipment Association stated that it was too early to tell whether China's export restrictions will result in material shortages. Supply chains could be disrupted to some degree due to China controlling over 90% of the world's gallium and germanium production, but DigiTimes Asia proposes that new sanctions will not prohibit production and export activities. According to experts in the field supply lines will continue to operate, with buyers required to jump through some extra hoops in order to gain approval for certain market segments. The purification of gallium and germanium is mostly controlled by American and Japanese entities—the processed form of these metals is used in semiconductor production—DigiTimes reckons that these firms will probably feel the initial impact of new trade restrictions.

In keeping with Framework's philosophy, the Framework Laptop 16 has socketed memory and storage, making it easy for you to choose what you need on day one and upgrade to more any time later. Our pre-built configurations have set combinations of memory and storage, while on DIY Edition, you can choose any of the modules we offer in the Marketplace or bring your own if you prefer. We've taken both memory and storage to the next level on Framework Laptop 16. For memory, we've created new semi-custom Framework-branded DDR5-5600 modules. For storage, we have two M.2 slots, as well as the ability to add two more in the Expansion Bay for colossal storage capacity.

One core challenge we aimed to solve for memory on the Framework Laptop 16 was being able to offer the same modules for pre-built systems, DIY Edition, and the Framework Marketplace. Historically, we needed to source separate "OEM" modules from Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron for use in our factory, and "Retail" modules from Crucial to offer in DIY Edition and the Marketplace. Instead, we worked with memory maker ADATA to create custom-label modules that we can use across all areas. Currently, we're leveraging SK Hynix DDR5-5600 memory chips for these modules, but may use other chips that meet the performance bar in the future as well.

According to Taiwanese media, TSMC will start production of its first 1.4 nm fab in 2026, with chip production in the fab said to start sometime in 2027 or 2028. The new fab will be located in Longtan Science Park outside of Hsinchu in Taiwan, where many of TSMC's current fabs are located. TSMC is currently constructing a 2 nm and below node R&D facility at a nearby plot of land to where the new fab is expected to be built. This facility is expected to be finished in 2025 and TSMC has been allocated a total area of just over 158 hectares of land for future expansion in the area.

In related news, TSMC is expected to be charging US$25,000 per 2 nm GAA wafer, which is an increase of about a fifth compared to its 3 nm wafers which are going for around US$20,000. This is largely due to the nodes being fully booked and TSMC being able to charge a premium for its cutting edge nodes. TSMC is also expanding in CoWoS packaging facilities due to increased demand from both AMD and NVIDIA for AI related products. Currently TSMC is said to be able to output 12,000 CoWoS wafers per month and this is twice as much as last year, yet TSMC is unable to meet demand from its customers.

The newly established Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) in the UK has recently released the UK's National Semiconductor Strategy. Dr. Shih-Chieh Chang, General Director of Electronic and Optoelectronic System Research Laboratories at the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) of Taiwan had an initial exchange with DSIT. During the exchange, Dr. Chang suggested that Taiwan can become a trustable partner for the UK and that the partnership can leverage collective strengths to create mutually beneficial developments. According to the Strategy, the British government plans to invest 1 billion pounds over the next decade to support the semiconductor industry. This funding will improve access to infrastructure, power more research and development and facilitate greater international cooperation.

Dr. Chang stressed that ITRI looks forward to more collaboration with the UK on semiconductors to enhance the resilience of the supply chain. While the UK possesses cutting-edge capabilities in semiconductor IP design and compound semiconductor technology, ITRI has extensive expertise in semiconductor technology R&D and trial production. As a result, ITRI is well-positioned to offer consultation services for advanced packaging pilot lines, facilitate pre-production evaluation, and link British semiconductor IP design companies with Taiwan's semiconductor industry chain. "The expansion of British manufacturers' service capacity in Taiwan would create a mutually beneficial outcome for both Taiwan and the UK," said Dr. Chang.

Global semiconductor materials market revenue grew 8.9% to $72.7 billion in 2022, surpassing the previous market high of $66.8 billion set in 2021, SEMI, the global industry association representing the electronics manufacturing and design supply chain, reported today in its Materials Market Data Subscription (MMDS). Wafer fabrication materials and packaging materials revenue in 2022 reached $44.7 billion and $28.0 billion, respectively, increasing 10.5% and 6.3%. The silicon, electronic gases, and photomask segments showed the strongest growth in the wafer fabrication materials market, while the organic substrates segment largely drove packaging materials market growth.

For the 13th consecutive year, Taiwan, at $20.1 billion, was the world's largest consumer of semiconductor materials on the strength of its foundry capacity and advanced packaging base. China continued to register strong year-over-year results, ranking second in 2022, while Korea finished as the third largest consumer of semiconductor materials. Most regions registered high single- or double-digit growth last year.

Mark Liu, the executive Chairman of TSMC, has responded to recent reports released by the North American media about supposedly challenging workplace conditions. Current and former employees of the company's U.S operation have taken anonymously to Glassdoor to complain about "brutal" treatment on behalf of TSMC leadership—resulting in a 27% overall approval rating, which sits unfavorably next to the scores of nearby competitors—for example Intel gets 85%, albeit from far more user submissions. Liu has made comments to a Taiwanese news outlet (Focus Taiwan) where he suggests that: "those who are unwilling to take shifts should not enter the industry, since this field isn't just about lucrative wages but rather a passion for (semiconductors)."

TSMC is trying to meet staffing targets for its Phoenix, Arizona operation, but early feedback and difficult residential living could stifle this recruitment drive. Liu thinks that his North American division will offer potential employees a workplace culture that is unlike the one set for crew back in Taiwan. He told the local reporter that American TSMC team members will have an easier time, relative to how things are run at the company's native facilities. He also states that leadership is open to discussions with NA workers, as long as company values are followed (to a tee).

According to the report from Reuters, Acer has apparently continued shipment of computer hardware to Russia, despite the firm supposedly suspending its operations in the country. With the war in Ukraine, on April 8 of, 2022, Acer published a statement: "Due to recent developments, Acer has decided to suspend its business in Russia." However, today Reuters reports that it has gained access to documents/data of customs that confirm that Acer has shipped computer hardware worth at least 70.4 million US Dollars between the period of April 8, 2022, and March 31, 2023.

Interestingly, Acer is a firm headquartered in Taiwan. However, Switzerland-based Acer Sales International SA entity shipped these units to Russia, thus not violating any Taiwanese sanctions to Russia that are in place. When asked about these shipments, Acer in Taiwan responded: "We strictly adhere to applicable international regulations and trade laws regarding exports to Russia." Additionally, the company stated that the Swiss subsidiary "had not shipped any laptops or desktops to Russia since April 8 last year." Still, instead, it had supplied a "limited number of displays and accessories to the Russian market for civilian daily use while ensuring compliance with international sanctions."

TSMC is having a tough time establishing itself in the United States with new manufacturing facilities - the Taiwanese multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company is putting a great deal of effort into finishing its new Arizona foundry, located in the greater Phoenix area. A minor fire incident occurred at one of their construction sites in late April, and North American news outlets last week reported on the company's struggle to recruit enough staff - approximately 4500 positions - for its upcoming Arizona plants. Current and former employees of TSMC in the U.S. have taken to the Glassdoor review website - user feedback has so far awarded the company a 27% approval rating via 91 submissions, thus warning potential candidates to stay away. Apparently American staffers have found it difficult to adjust to TSMC's corporate culture, and the company could face further challenges when transferring staff from Taiwan.

The latest news from Arizona points to problems encountered at the so-called "TSMC Village" - actually two residential locations divided into "A" and "B" categories. Taiwan's Economic Daily released a video report late last month covering crime-related incidents - this information has since been picked up by Western news outlets. Perpetrators have targeted houses and cars within these new build communities - UDN's footage indicates that seven vehicles located in Village A were damaged with a portion of them broken into. A single Village B property was accessed by possible squatters, and an unspecified number of TSMC engineers have been "robbed" throughout May. Several residents were contacted by UDN - interviewees expressed frustrations with the lack of security in the area, and blamed a local management company for not bolstering prevention measures.

Marsrhino demonstrated its high-end gaming chair product range at this year's Computex - including Infinite GT, Infinite GT Black, Infinite Air and Infinite S models. These are all constructed at the company's Taiwan factory facility and are offered with five year warranties. Marsrhino has clearly taken influence from premium ergonomic office chair designs - the Infinite lineup shares many industry standard features while maintaining a classy gaming aesthetic - such as fully adjustable lumbar supports via their unique 3D somatosensory system, tilt plus lock functionality, breathable elasticated mesh and foam backings, 4D positional armrests, 2D adjustable headrests, aluminium alloy bases (enamel finish) with a Class-4 gas lift cylinder and large PU super quiet (muted) casters.

Anacomda, a Taiwanese memory, storage, and accessories maker, had a booth at Computex 2023, where the company presented the new DDR5 memory kits with speeds ranging up to 7000 MHz. Starting off, we have the model called "Standard," which is just a standard DDR5 UDIMM memory kit available as 8 and 16 GB DIMM, in 2x 8 GB and 2x 16 GB capacities. Running at 4800 MHz, the standard kit has a CAS latency of 40, with a running voltage set to 1.1 Volts. Next is the KingSnake Overclocking UDIMM, which is, as the name suggests, a kit optimized for overclocking. Available in frequencies of 5600/6000/6200/7000 MHz, these memory modules run at 1.25 or 1.45 Volts at CAS latencies of 40 and 36. They also come in 16 GB and 32 GB capacities.

Last but not least, there is an ET (EryxTataricus) unbuffered UDIMM kit that is basically an RGB version of KingSnake, with all the same features except the inclusion of RGB lighting capable of syncing with all modern motherboard RGB software.