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算力芯片看点系列:GPGPU与ASIC之争

Investment Rating - The report maintains an "Overweight" investment rating for the electronic industry [1] Core Viewpoints - The competition between GPGPU and ASIC chips is highlighted, with ASICs focusing on low-precision tasks and showing better power efficiency, but still lagging behind GPGPU in certain performance metrics [5][8] - Major companies are increasingly investing in self-developed AI chips to meet the growing demand for AI applications, with significant capital expenditures expected to cover initial development costs [5][16] - The report recommends investing in companies like Cambricon and Haiguang Information, while also suggesting to pay attention to ZTE, Aojie Technology, and Chipone [5] Summary by Sections 1. GPGPU vs ASIC Performance Comparison - ASICs primarily target low-precision data types, which are sufficient for large model training, while GPGPU excels in high-precision tasks [8] - In terms of power efficiency, ASICs generally have better power control and efficiency ratios compared to GPGPU [8][11] - GPGPU's memory bandwidth and capacity still surpass those of ASICs, although ASICs have higher computational density [11][12] 2. Reasons for Major Companies Developing AI Chips - The cost structure for chip companies includes employee salaries, EDA and IP costs, manufacturing expenses, and sales costs, with salaries making up a significant portion [16][17] - The report estimates that a digital chip Fabless company requires approximately 9.7 billion yuan for salaries alone for a development team [17][18] - The demand for AI inference is expected to grow significantly, with major companies building large-scale clusters to support this demand [18][19] 3. Who Can Manufacture AI Chips for Major Companies? - Broadcom is identified as a leader in AI interconnect technology, with a strong IP ecosystem and significant market share in AI custom chip services [21][24] - Marvell is noted for its rapid growth in the AI chip market, with a significant increase in AI-related revenue and partnerships with major cloud service providers [25][27] - AIchip is recognized for its advanced 3DIC and process technology, addressing efficiency and performance challenges in AI and high-performance computing [28][29]