The hottest Semiconductors Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Technology Topics

CXL Is Dead In The AI Era

SemiAnalysis • 7475 implied HN points • 16 Mar 24
🕹 Technology AI Hardware Protocols Semiconductors
  1. CXL technology was once thought to revolutionize data center hardware, but many projects have been shelved in favor of other advancements.
  2. CXL is not likely to be the go-to interconnect for AI applications due to limitations in availability and deeper issues in the era of accelerated computing.
  3. The main challenges with CXL include PCIe SerDes limitations, competition from proprietary protocols for AI clusters, and the need for improvements in chip design for bandwidth efficiency.

Hybrid Bonding Process Flow - Advanced Packaging Part 5

SemiAnalysis • 7677 implied HN points • 09 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Semiconductors Manufacturing Equipment
  1. Hybrid bonding is a major innovation in semiconductor manufacturing, impacting design processes and supply chains.
  2. There are engineering challenges in bringing hybrid bonding to high volume production, with a focus on cleanliness, surface smoothness, and alignment accuracy.
  3. Wafers are bonded using advanced techniques such as wafer-to-wafer or die-to-wafer processes based on alignment accuracy, throughput, and bond yields.

Is the AI Boom Real?

The Asianometry Newsletter • 3553 implied HN points • 07 Mar 24
🕹 Technology AI Semiconductors Tech Giants Financial sustainability AI Applications
  1. The trillion-dollar investment in AI chips does raise skepticism, with questions about its sustainability and impact on the semiconductor industry.
  2. The concept of scaling laws, driving investments, presents interesting parallels to Moore's Law in the semiconductor industry, suggesting potential future impact on AI.
  3. Competition in AI chips, particularly against Nvidia, is heating up as tech giants aim for vertical integration, potentially shifting the landscape of AI chip design and market dynamics.

Introducing Chiplets

The Chip Letter • 6372 implied HN points • 11 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Hardware Semiconductors Innovation
  1. The newsletter is introducing 'Chiplets,' shorter and more varied posts for the readers.
  2. Readers have the option to opt-in to receive 'Chiplets' in their inbox to avoid filling it with too many emails.
  3. The 'Chiplets' will cover a mix of historical and current topics in a more informal and fun way, offering a new format for readers.

A Year In Chips

The Chip Letter • 8222 implied HN points • 30 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Semiconductors Programming Languages Hardware Microcontrollers
  1. The Chip Letter had 75 posts, over 500,000 views, and gained over 7,000 new subscribers in 2023.
  2. Highlighted posts included the story of Erlang at WhatsApp, the disappearance of minicomputers, and a celebration of the 65th anniversary of the Integrated Circuit.
  3. 2024 will bring posts on the history of microcontrollers, Moore's Law, the Motorola 6800, '8-bit', GPUs, TPUs, and more, with a 20% discount available for new annual subscriptions.
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Why HBM is the Hottest Thing in Memory

Mule’s Musings • 411 implied HN points • 03 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Semiconductors Memory Industry Analysis Investing
  1. Investing in semiconductors involves identifying secular trends and market dislocations for potential opportunities.
  2. HBM technology is driving a significant change in the memory industry, with SK Hynix being highlighted as a key player to watch for.
  3. Suppliers in the memory market are strategically shifting focus and investments towards HBM, anticipating a boost in market demand and profitability in the coming years.

Japan's Semiconductor Red Carpet

Interconnected • 446 implied HN points • 27 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Semiconductors Manufacturing Government support Global expansion Workforce
  1. Japan's semiconductor industry is making a strong effort to attract TSMC and boost chip manufacturing through government support and strategic investments.
  2. Kumamoto in Japan is proving to be a successful hub for TSMC with speedy construction, substantial government subsidies, and efforts to welcome and retain Taiwanese employees.
  3. Soft touches like cultural support, language programs, and local community integration are enhancing the success of TSMC's venture in Kumamoto, highlighting the importance of human factors in high-tech industries.

Arm and a Leg: Arm's Quest To Extract Their True Value

SemiAnalysis • 4040 implied HN points • 14 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Semiconductors Licensing Business Model Financials Competitive Landscape
  1. Arm is focusing on increasing their pricing and extracting more value from their innovative architecture and licensing model.
  2. Arm's dominance in smartphone instruction sets gives them leverage to potentially raise pricing significantly, similar to Qualcomm's successful pricing strategy.
  3. The IPO and change in business model showcase Arm's potential to boost revenues and profits by optimizing their pricing strategies and pursuing growth opportunities.

ChinAI #251: A surprise in the data on China's chip imports

ChinAI Newsletter • 609 implied HN points • 22 Jan 24
🕹 Technology AI Semiconductors Trade Geopolitics Cybersecurity
  1. China's chip imports dropped for the first time in consecutive years due to geopolitical factors and increased demand in emerging industries like 5G and AI.
  2. China has been focusing on localizing chip production to reduce the trade deficit, with the self-sufficiency rate increasing from 16.6% in 2020 to 23.3% in 2023.
  3. In the past ten years, China's chip industry experienced significant growth, with chip imports and exports doubling in quantity and value.

Taiwan vs. US Chip Subsidies: Bolstering the Sacred Mountain

ChinaTalk • 192 implied HN points • 07 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Semiconductors Incentives Manufacturing
  1. Taiwan allows companies to choose which technologies to invest in, unlike the US and South Korea which target specific areas to strengthen the supply chain.
  2. Taiwanese lawmakers grant significant discretion to government ministries in managing subsidies, in contrast to the US and EU where subsidies are tightly regulated.
  3. Taiwan's central government manages and funds the most significant incentive programs for the semiconductor industry, a strategy that reflects a commitment to enhancing existing strengths.

Downside at NVIDIA (and the Nasdaq at large)

Philoinvestor • 491 implied HN points • 26 Jan 24
💰 Finance Investing Stocks Valuation Semiconductors Artificial Intelligence
  1. NVIDIA's stock price increased significantly faster than its earnings, raising questions about its valuation.
  2. The launch of Chat GPT led to a surge in demand for GPUs and an uptick in NVIDIA's stock.
  3. Microsoft's $10 billion investment in Open AI and the AI hype train are contributing factors to the current market dynamics.

Top 5 US-China Tech Stories

ChinaTalk • 637 implied HN points • 04 Jan 24
🕹 Technology E-commerce EVs Semiconductors AI
  1. TikTok has defied early predictions of regulatory restrictions in the US due to vested interests and political dynamics.
  2. The splintering of cross-border VC firms like Sequoia and GGV Capital is a tangible impact of US-China relations.
  3. Chinese EVs are dominating globally, posing a challenge to traditional automakers and highlighting the US infrastructure gap.

Intel Demonstrates High-Speed 3nm Silicon

More Than Moore • 186 implied HN points • 20 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Semiconductors Engineering
  1. Intel showcased high-speed 3nm silicon technology at ISSCC 2024, revealing their advancements in SERDES connectivity.
  2. SERDES links, like PCIe, have evolved over the years and can now achieve faster transfer rates through encoding advancements like PAM-4 and PAM-6.
  3. Presenting impressive silicon like the Bixby Creek chip demonstrates Intel's commitment to developing power-efficient high-speed connections and prepares IP blocks for customer use in new process nodes.

India’s Chip War

ChinaTalk • 148 implied HN points • 27 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Semiconductors Manufacturing Software Design Globalization
  1. India excels in software and design but faces challenges in manufacturing semiconductors due to historical economic policies that hindered growth in hardware and manufacturing sectors.
  2. India's approach to semiconductor industry development differed from Taiwan and China, starting from the design end rather than electronics assembly, posing challenges due to lack of a broader electronics ecosystem and global integration.
  3. Software industry in India thrived due to less restrictive regulations compared to hardware industries like semiconductors heavily controlled under small-scale industry reservations, hindering growth in manufacturing sectors.

5 Reasons For Altman's Bold $7 Trillion Bet

The Algorithmic Bridge • 201 implied HN points • 13 Feb 24
🕹 Technology AI Semiconductors Innovation
  1. Altman is seeking an unprecedented $7 trillion to invest in AI infrastructure, which includes developing GPUs, energy supply improvement, and expanding data center capacity.
  2. The $7 trillion investment is meant to propel technological advancements to a level comparable to the impact of the Industrial Revolution, focusing on long-term projects over decades rather than immediate outcomes.
  3. Despite the astronomical sum, the $7 trillion investment may not seem as excessive considering the potential growth of the global economy and the transformative nature of the projects Altman aims to support.

The Arm Story Part 3 : Creating A Global Standard

The Chip Letter • 3288 implied HN points • 19 Mar 23
🕹 Technology Innovation Semiconductors Global Market Business strategy
  1. Arm's success was built on strategic partnerships and a unique licensing business model.
  2. The development of Thumb instruction set allowed Arm to address code size and attract key customers like Nokia and TI.
  3. Arm's growth and financial stability were further solidified by partnerships with companies like Samsung and the creation of the StrongARM line.

How Japan Won the Lithography Industry

The Asianometry Newsletter • 2368 implied HN points • 24 May 23
🕹 Technology Industry Semiconductors Manufacturing Innovation Competition
  1. In the late 1980s, Japanese firms dominated the lithography market, overtaking American suppliers.
  2. The US led the early semiconductor industry, influencing chip development and government interest.
  3. Japan's VLSI project in the 1970s propelled their indigenous semiconductor industry through collaborative research and development.

The 3-D Transistor Transition

The Asianometry Newsletter • 1861 implied HN points • 05 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Semiconductors Innovation Manufacturing Future Technology
  1. The semiconductor industry shifted to producing 3-D transistors like the FinFET for better control over the channels.
  2. Classical scaling involved shrinking transistor dimensions to improve performance, power, and area gains.
  3. 3-D transistor designs like FinFETs and Gate all around are pushing semiconductor technology forward, but come with added complexity and cost.

Chip Letter Links No. 18: NexGen, Nvidia, Die Topology, FastGPT in Fortran and more

The Chip Letter • 2055 implied HN points • 04 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Semiconductors Machine Learning Tech Companies
  1. Nvidia briefly joined the trillion dollar market cap club, surpassing Intel, AMD, and TSMC combined.
  2. Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, gave a commencement speech while unveiling the Grace Hopper 'superchip'.
  3. Explanation on why Rosetta 2 runs so fast on Apple Silicon Macs, highlighting the engineering tradeoffs made.

The Race to 2nm: RISC-V Chips in Japan

More Than Moore • 87 HN points • 27 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Semiconductors AI RISC-V Manufacturing Research
  1. Rapidus, a new semiconductor company in Japan, aims to bring 2nm manufacturing capacity online by 2027 with backing from major Japanese companies and government subsidies.
  2. The Leading-Edge Semiconductor Technology Center (LSTC) in Japan, a collaboration between the US and Japan, will focus on advanced research and building vital silicon for both economies.
  3. Tenstorrent's collaboration with LSTC involves providing advanced high-performance RISC-V cores and chiplets, indicating a push towards AI acceleration and cutting-edge technology development.

Marvell Industry Analyst Day

Mule’s Musings • 256 implied HN points • 17 Dec 23
💼 Business Technology Finance AI Semiconductors Networking
  1. Marvell's Industry Analyst Day focused on AI and highlighted strong revenue growth expectations for the company related to AI technologies.
  2. Marvell expects significant revenue from AI in 2024, with over two billion dollars projected, driven by AI demand and server attach rates.
  3. Marvell's strategy involves leveraging networking, custom silicon, and pluggable transceivers to position themselves as a key player in the AI semiconductor market.

TSMC OIP Forum: Fabs, N3/N2+BSPN

More Than Moore • 303 implied HN points • 01 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Semiconductors Manufacturing Innovation Research Events
  1. TSMC is a leading foundry with a focus on developing cutting-edge technologies and hosting events to showcase their advancements and collaborations.
  2. TSMC's current focus is on production, including expanding fab capabilities and advancing in process nodes like N3 and N2 with improved performance and power efficiency.
  3. In addition to process nodes, TSMC is also working on advancements in memory technology like HBM3 and HBM4, as well as expanding analog design tools and focusing on 3D integration for complex chip packaging.

447: Nvidia vs Hyperscalers, TSMC, Tech IPOs, SpaceX & Starlink, $5bn for Old Songs, ChatGPT vs 17 Doctors, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Liberty’s Highlights • 471 implied HN points • 18 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Tech Companies AI Cloud Services Semiconductors Data Centers
  1. Having a creative outlet can shift your mindset and generate more ideas.
  2. Writing online is competitive, requires multiple skills, and is ruled by power laws.
  3. Nvidia is making strategic moves in cloud services, there is competition in AI chips, and TSMC's Arizona plant chips still need to be shipped to Taiwan.

Can AMD beat Nvidia in the AI Race?

Golden Pineapple • 31 implied HN points • 07 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Artificial Intelligence Acquisitions Semiconductors Data Analysis Software
  1. Nvidia has been a market leader with high-performance chips for GPT models, positioning them well in the AI competition.
  2. AMD is making strategic moves in AI, such as diversifying into software through acquisitions like Nod AI, to challenge Nvidia's dominance.
  3. Both Nvidia and AMD are eyeing potential acquisitions in AI-related sectors, with AMD's recent chip advancements showing promise in the competition.

How Taiwan became Arrakis

Deep Into The Mundane • 17 HN points • 20 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Semiconductors Manufacturing Innovation Research Economics
  1. Taiwan's TSMC is crucial to the global economy, producing chips for major tech companies like Apple, Nvidia, and Tesla.
  2. ASML, a Dutch company, has a monopoly on EUV lithography machines, a key technology for chip manufacturing, with machines costing hundreds of millions of dollars.
  3. TSMC's innovative 'pure-play foundry' model, led by visionary Morris Chang, revolutionized chip manufacturing, emphasizing collaboration with designers and avoiding competition with customers.

Interview with Intel’s Dr. Ann Kelleher

More Than Moore • 186 implied HN points • 22 Nov 23
🕹 Technology Semiconductors Manufacturing Research and Development Innovation Engineering
  1. Intel has been successful in using EUV in their Intel 4 technology
  2. The development of nodes at Intel involves extensive research, pathfinding, and process development before transferring to high-volume manufacturing
  3. Intel is progressing well with their roadmap of '5 nodes in 4 years', with Intel 4 completed and Intel 3 on track