Professional Managers Take Over, Decisions May Turn Conservative
NVIDIA announced that Jensen Huang has resigned as president, CEO and director, with CFO Colette Kress serving as interim CEO while continuing as CFO. Taishin Shin Kong Financial Holding Chief Economist Li Zhenyu said in an interview on the 13th that this personnel change will affect NVIDIA's decision-making speed, the pace of AI rack upgrades, and the funding and landscape of the overall AI industry chain, bringing far-reaching structural impact, and he believes NVIDIA made a wrong decision. Li Zhenyu noted the successor may follow Apple's precedent of Tim Cook succeeding Steve Jobs, moving to a professional-manager system. Professional managers are accountable to the board and cannot command support like Jensen Huang, decisions will slow and turn conservative, and significantly slow U.S. AI advancement, which is the larger and inevitable part of the shock, and what the U.S. administration worries about most.
Low Chance of Return, Departure Seen as Major Loss
Li Zhenyu expects the possibility of Jensen Huang returning to NVIDIA is not high, saying it is unlikely. He contrasted Steve Jobs being forced out of Apple at age 30 and returning strongly 12 years later at age 42, while Jensen Huang is now 63. He believes Jensen Huang should be kept in office with strengthened oversight, as only he can drive AI speed, no professional manager succeeding him can match Jensen Huang's level, and his departure is a huge loss for the U.S. AI industry.
Taiwan Supply Chain Short-Term Bullish, Long-Term Bearish, 2027 Specification Battle Is Key
Regarding the impact on Taiwan's supply chain, Li Zhenyu sees it as bullish in the short term but bearish in the long term. In the short term, with current CFO Colette Kress serving as acting CEO, she does not understand technology, and her most important job is to pocket every cent that NVIDIA can earn, so specifications and orders already finalized for the next 2 quarters will proceed as planned, leaving Taiwan firms' short-term profits secure. The real challenge lies in the specification battle for new racks from the second half of 2027 to 2028, if the new CEO slows the pace of technology advancement, Taiwan supply chain firms may lose the incentive to invest massive capital expenditure and expand aggressively. Rapid upgrades of servers and racks are the core engine of this Taiwan stock rally, once momentum weakens, the market's long-term dream-driven rally for Taiwan AI concept stocks will inevitably face a harsh P/E correction.
CSP Bargaining Power Rises, TSMC Foundry Position Remains Solid
Li Zhenyu noted NVIDIA's negotiating leverage over the 4 major cloud service providers will be greatly reduced, the 4 major cloud service providers will significantly increase pressure on NVIDIA in the future, and may develop their own chips, no longer willing to be led by NVIDIA, and pressure on the AI chip ecosystem will gradually emerge. Even so, this will have little impact on TSMC, even with Jensen Huang's departure, AI development will not stall, no matter who designs the chips, manufacturing will ultimately still rely on TSMC, and the challenge facing TSMC will instead be how to flexibly allocate capacity to match a new round of chip specifications.
Financing Tightens, Regulation Tightens, Taiwan Firms Must Accelerate Self-Clearing
On funding and geopolitics, Li Zhenyu warned that in the past emerging cloud service providers relied on ties with NVIDIA to obtain cheap financing, with Jensen Huang's departure and a more cautious CFO, banks and NVIDIA itself may tighten attitudes toward AI financing, sharply raising funding costs for related companies. At the same time, as the core of the global AI supply chain, Taiwan has often turned a blind eye to export destinations in the past, now that the U.S. is taking a hard line, Taiwan's supply chain must proactively self-clear, which will be an unavoidable pressure and responsibility for the industry.