Broadcom’s AI Chip Guidance Raises APAC Supply-Chain Questions
Broadcom’s AI chip business is still growing fast, but its latest guidance sent a different signal to South Korea’s memory giants. The company’s latest results showed strong demand for custom AI accelerators and networking chips, but its outlook fell short of Wall Street’s expectations. The reaction spread quickly to South Korea, where Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell as investors questioned how much AI upside was already priced into Korean memory suppliers. Why strong AI revenue wasn’t enough Broadcom reported $22.19 billion in fiscal second-quarter revenue, while AI semiconductor revenue rose 143% year over year to $10.8 billion, according to Investor’s Business Daily. But its $16 billion fiscal third-quarter AI chip sales forecast missed Wall Street’s $17.2 billion estimate, shifting attention from raw demand to the capacity and margin questions facing AI chip suppliers. MarketWatch reported that Broadcom fell 12.6% on June 4, wiping $286 billion from its market value. For Samsung and SK Hynix, the supply-chain question starts with high-bandwidth memory, a key component in AI accelerator systems. Broadcom’s custom chips, or ASICs, are …
