Last year, I attended Computex for the first time, and for all its flaws I’m super-excited about returning with a year’s worth of knowledge under my belt. Taking place between May 29 and June 3, the show is spread all over Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, with thousands of exhibitors showing off everything from keyboard switches to... more keyboard switches.
I’m only half joking.
Computex will prove a strange show for anyone but the most hardcore of industry professionals. Some halls are filled with nothing but gaming PCs and laptops, including over-the-top custom solutions that case manufacturers are keen to show off.
Familiar brands come with consumer kit, too. As you’ll see below, I’m expecting announcements from plenty of big-name brands, with Asus in particular looking to make a splash the day before the official opening of the show.
At the opposite end of the spectrum there are entire halls – spaces as big as the biggest convention centres you’ll find here in the UK – filled with no-brand gaming headsets, mice and keyboards; they ship without a logo, only to have a familiar brand sticker slapped on them before they hit the market.
As well as the key brands mentioned below, I’m hoping to gain an insight into the consumer computing industry, and hopefully leave better able to provide an idea of what to expect from computers and beyond.
We’re a couple of months away from Computex 2017, but using last year’s announcements plus some educated guesswork, I can predict a few items you should look out for.
Asus ZenFones and ZenBooks
Taiwan is the home turf of Asus, and the firm has previously used Computex to launch its biggest products of the year. In 2016, it launched not one but three ZenFones alongside the impressive ZenBook 3 laptop and Transformer Book 3 Pro.
Asus tends to run its press conference the day before Computex officially starts, renting out a hotel ballroom to fit in a crowd of several hundred journalists and retail partners. The company always puts on a show, and I’m hoping chairman Jonney Shih (video below) will be return to the stage; his performance last year prompted us to create an homage video.
Anybody remember ZenBo?
That said, I’d be surprised if Asus launched a ZenBook 4 so soon after the ZenBook 3. It went on sale at the back-end of last year, and announcing another one now would surely hurt sales of existing models. With that said, an improved model with better battery life would be welcome, so perhaps a mid-life refresh will appear.
Asus’ ROG gaming brand has been growing, so I think much of the company's focus will be here, and its Strix brand.
Oh, and remember Asus Project Avalon from 2016? No, neither did we. Asus announced its modular computing project last year, but we haven't heard much since. I really hope that a year on Asus is able to declare some hardware partners – otherwise I think it will be safe to assume that Avalon was just a (really quite clever) concept.
Acer
Taiwan is also the home of Acer. Last year, the company didn’t make as big a splash as Asus, choosing to announce its 2016 roster at an event in April, and then quietly adding a few more devices to its lineup just ahead of the event.
These included a few a new Switch 10 V tablet, a professional-grade monitor and some business laptops. I'd hope for a little more this year, perhaps with a focus on gaming.
Computex is AMD’s bread and butter, and its current lineup of Ryzen CPUs and upcoming Vega GPUs will surely be its centerpieces for the show.
Last year, AMD used Computex to reveal the Radeon RX 480, which at the time was a seriously impressive card for a price that nobody was expecting. This year, I’d be surprised if AMD didn’t try to pull off something similar for a second time, showing off a GPU powered by its new Vega architecture.
AMD also revealed Zen – which became Ryzen – at last year’s event. I’d expect AMD to have revealed its full Ryzen lineup by the end of May, so don't expect any processor surprises this time around. However, it's likely that AMD will reveal some more details about its Zen-powered laptop chips at Computex 2017.
Intel
Computex 2016 saw Intel reveal its bonkers Broadwell-E processors – the lineup included a 10-core, 20-thread monstrosity for high-end video editors, among other things. This year, the company will probably focus on the rumoured Skylake-X chips, which will supersede Broadwell-E.
ARM
ARM launched new designs for its Cortex processors and Mali graphics chips in 2016, influencing the year's most popular smartphone chips. Expect more of the same this year, with a particular focus on mobile gaming and VR.
Dell
Dell formed part of Microsoft’s set of minor announcements last year, launching a few new Inspiron 2-in-1s, including a 17-inch model that we’ve yet to actually review. Expect a few more minor launches this year, as Dell already showed off its high-end XPS laptops at CES in January.
Microsoft
By the time Computex 2017 comes around, the Windows 10 Creators Update should be rolling out to users, so will likely feature heavily at the show as Microsoft looks to try to make Windows 10 look fresh again. The theme of the Creators Update is creativity and gaming, so I’d be surprised if Microsoft didn't extol the virtues of VR, touchscreens and streaming.
Nvidia
Nvidia doesn’t make a big outward-facing song and dance about Computex, although it’s an important event for its hardware partner, like Gigabyte, MSI, Asus and plenty more. These guys will be showing off their latest GTX 1080 Ti graphics cards models, probably built into the most ridiculous PC builds you’ve ever seen.
Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang always makes an appearance early on
Other themes
Aside from the big consumer brands, Computex is marketing a few new themes this year. The most interesting are "AI & Robotics" and "Gaming & VR". Arguably, both were major themes last year – but I expect Computex will be highlighting more interesting companies this year.
And, of course, there will be plenty of gaming PCs to see. See you in Taipei!
