Nvidia Vera Rubin-based AI data centers cost US$47 billion per 1GW (gigawatt) data center holding 3,557 server racks – $9.1M each – with an annual $1.3B electric bill and hardware depreciation 6x higher than power costs, said Young Liu, chairman of Foxconn, the world’s biggest AI server maker, in a speech. 1/3 $NVDA #Foxconn $TSM $ASX $DELL $HPE $SMCI 2/3 He said by 2030, the global data center market will hit $1.6 trillion as global compute soars to 174GW, from 68GW in 2024. At that time, another 106GW of electricity will be needed for them, so 18GW of power supply must be built each year from 2025 to 2030 to keep up. Demand for all this compute is coming from AI model builders, Cloud Service Providers (CSPs), governments and enterprises.

SpaceX: Nvidia to be 1st in orbit next year:
“Our current reference design is for Nvidia Rubin chips, or could be either GB300 or Rubin chips. We’ll also a have reference designs for TPUs, and essentially, you can put any existing chips into orbit,” said SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Thread 1/7 2/6 SpaceX’s AI1 satellites, for AI compute in space, are a key reason why the TeraFab is necessary. Musk’s best launch guess is “roughly an annualized rate of a GigaWatt (GW) per year by the end of next year”, expanding exponentially:
•Baseline (End-2027): 1 GW per year.
•+1 Year (2.5 years from now, 2028): 10GW/ year
•+2 Years (in 3.5 years, Dec 2029): 100GW/year
•Then scale to a TeraWatt (TW) per year, 1,000 GW

TSMC 1st Quarter 2026 Earnings
Revenue US$35.9B up 35.1% YoY
Gross Margin 66.2% vs guide 63% - 65% -BEAT
Opng Margin 58.1% vs guide 54% - 56% -BEAT
Net Profit US$18.1B vs expected $17B -BEAT
Thread 1/ $TSM $NVDA $AVGO $AMD $AAPL #semiconductors 2/ TSMC Q1 in Taiwan Dollars
Revenue NT$1.13 trillion vs NT$839.3B
Net Profit NT$572.5B, up 58.3% -Record high
EPS NT$22.08 (US$3.49 per ADR unit)
“In the first quarter, revenue increased 8.4% quarter-over-quarter, as our business was supported by strong demand for our leading-edge process technologies.”

Elon Musk needs 100-200 billion AI chips per-year, but TSMC and Samsung appear unable to meet that at his time frame, he said at the Baron Investment Conference, reiterating that Tesla may build its own massive fab. Tesla’s CEO may face more trouble than he thinks. 1/9 $TSLA $TSM $INTC $SSNLF #Samsung #Semiconductors 2/9 He calls the chip giants partners he has “tremendous respect for” but they need 5-years to get a new chip fab up and running, which Musk calls, “an eternity.” It’s “not going to be fast enough. So, if they change their minds and say, yeah, they’re gonna go faster and they want to provide us with 100 billion, 200 billion AI chips-a-year, in the time frame that we need them, that’s great.” $TSM $SSNLF $INTC $TSLA

Demand for Nvidia Blackwell-based AI servers sent September revenue at Taiwan’s ‘Big 6’ AI server makers up 26.9% over last year to a combined NT$1.399 trillion (US$45.7 B), a record high. 1/8 $NVDA $TSM #AIservers 2/8 “This year, particularly in the last six months, demand of computing has gone up substantially,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC on Wednesday.

“Demand for Blackwell is really, really high,” he added.
$NVDA #Foxconn #Quanta #Wistron #Inventec #Wiwynn #Gigabyte

Size of the OpenAI - Nvidia deal, via CNBC interview:

“This new project we’re talking about, 10-gigawatts, or roughly, 4 million or 5 million GPUs, that’s approximately, in one project, what we shipped all year this year, and twice as much as last year, twice as much as the year before that…This is a giant project.” – Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang $NVDA $TSM #OpenAI #semiconductors OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on what people missed during the DeepSeek moment:

“The models at this point are like actually quite capable for things far beyond what most people use them for in ChatGPT, and the world is just catching up with that…but the magnitude of the scale of this project, you know, $100 billion is a small dent in it. And the numbers are also missing the story of what this amount of infrastructure is capable of doing.”

“What that amount of brainpower can do when those models get better…The stuff that will come out of this super brain will be remarkable in a way we don’t really know how to think about yet.”

(examples given: cure cancer, provide free education to everyone on earth)

Intel’s fate may hang on White House decisions in coming days, amid scrutiny over its leadership.

Let’s revisit how Intel got here, mirrored by Boeing, another fallen giant of American innovation.
Thread 1/12 $INTC $BA $TSM #Semiconductors 2/12 In 2005, both Boeing and Intel picked non-technical CEOs for the first time, sparking years of decline.

Why revisit this now? Intel is in a fight.

TSMC 2nm trade secret theft: Shares of Japan chip equipment giant Tokyo Electron were down 3.6% in early trade on reports some TSMC employees left for Tokyo Electron to leak 2nm trade secrets meant to help Japan’s state-backed startup, Rapidus, which is developing up its own advanced chip manufacturing. Another report says Taiwan prosecutors searched Tokyo Electron’s offices. 1/3 $TSM $TOELY #Rapidus #semiconductors #semiconductor money.udn.com/money/story/56… 2/3 Taiwan authorities have so far arrested 6 engineers on charges of stealing core technology vital to national interests, the report says, leaking hundreds of photos detailing TSMC 2nm manufacturing process secrets. In all, 10 engineers are suspected of being involved. $TSM $TOELY #Rapidus #semiconductors #semiconductor

Samsung Electronics 2nd quarter earnings 1/12
Revenue rose 1% year-on-year to ₩74.6 trillion (US$53.7 billion), analysts expected ₩76.33 trillion
Operating profit -55% to ₩4.7 trillion (₩6.27 T expected)
Chip division revenue -2% to ₩27.9 trillion
Chip operating profit -94% to ₩400 billion (₩2.73 T expected) $SSNLF $HXSCL $MU $TSLA $GOOGL #semiconductors #Samsung #HBM #DRAM 2/12 Samsung blamed a write-down of chip inventories, slower smartphone sales and foreign exchange rate losses for its 2nd quarter performance.

Its chip division suffered from the US ban on Nvidia H20 chip exports to China in the 2nd quarter. Samsung supplies the high-end HBM3 memory chips used with the H20. Samsung has been trying to catch up to rivals in HBM (high bandwidth memory) after missing the AI memory chip trend.

TSMC Arizona has finished its 1st run of chips for Apple, AMD and Nvidia, media report, a milestone for the chip giant. Nvidia’s Blackwell chips made in Arizona are said to be shipped back to Taiwan for advanced packaging. 1/2 $TSM $AAPL $AMD $NVDA #Arizona #semiconductors #semiconductor ctee.com.tw/news/202506167… 2/2 Meanwhile, Apple’s A20 iPhone chips will be made using TSMC’s 2nm process and new WMCM (Wafer-Level Multi-Chip Module) advanced packaging done at its AP7 plant in Chiayi, south Taiwan. WMCM capacity at the plant is expected to be 50,000 wafers per month by end-2026. The A20 will be used in iPhone 18 Pro/Max, with 12GB of memory.

1/6 Driven by surging demand for Nvidia Blackwell-based systems, Taiwan's top six AI server makers' monthly revenue is climbing at an average 39.4% year-on-year clip in 2025, up sharply from 10% last year. $NVDA $TSM #semiconductors 2/6 Check out the lift-off in 2025 versus prior years. $NVDA $TSM #AIservers #semiconductors

SemiAnalysis:
-China’s top AI server, the Huawei AI CloudMatrix 384, beats the best US one, the Nvidia GB200 NVL72

-TSMC manufactured the “vast majority of Ascend 910B and 910C” chips

-Samsung provided the HBM memory chips.

-China's semiconductor manufacturing is improving fast due to ease buying equipment

-The US needs to act fast to slow Huawei and China down. Thread 1/7 $NVDA $TSM #Samsung #Huawei #semiconductors #semiconductor #AIservers 2/7 SemiAnalysis: “Huawei and China now have AI system capabilities that can beat Nvidia’s…A full CloudMatrix system can now deliver 300 PFLOPs of dense BF16 compute, almost double that of the (Nvidia) GB200 NVL72” with a drawback, “it takes 3.9x the power of a GB200 NVL72.” Power deficiencies are not a limiting factor in China.

Nvidia’s Aggressive Roadmap: Too Fast, Too Furious?

In May 2024, Nvidia unveiled a bold shift to a one-year release cycle for its AI data center chips, ditching the previous two-year pace. It’s a strategy designed to match the breakneck speed of the AI market and keep rivals scrambling. But has Nvidia bitten off more than it can chew? 1/7 $NVDA $TSM $HXSCL #SKhynix #Foxconn #semiconductors #semiconductor 2/7 A design flaw—“100% Nvidia’s fault,” as CEO Jensen Huang admitted—delayed the Blackwell rollout (B100 and B200) by three months. Now, with Blackwell systems finally hitting the market, they’re barreling toward a potential collision with Blackwell Ultra (B300) in the second half of 2025. This overlap could see the two vying for attention, resources, and customer budgets. It’s fair to ask: Did the accelerated design cycle play a role in that flaw slipping through?

Nvidia: Four hyperscalers bought 3.6 million Blackwell chips (B200) so far in 2025
-Blackwell Ultra (B300) and GB300 available from 2nd half 2025
Next gen chip:
-Vera Rubin available 2nd half 2026
-Vera Rubin Ultra in 2027
Next gen:
-Feynman scheduled for 2028
DGX personal AI computers with Blackwell Ultra chips inside
Quantum-X Photonics networking chips due out later 2025
Spectrum-X Photonics chips in 2026
Thread 1/ $NVDA $AMZN $GOOGL $META $MSFT $ORCL $DELL $HPQ $CSCO $SMCI #semiconductors #semiconductor reuters.com/technology/eve…

https://x.com/DylanOnChips/status/1902136100262732232

TSMC Chairman C.C. Wei said its US fabs are already fully booked through 2027, with new 2027 production lines also reserved, media report, adding despite expanded US investments, Taiwan won’t suffer as although 11 new production lines will be built in Taiwan this year, “…it is still not enough,” he said, adding there will be another 10+ more production lines built in Taiwan in the next few years, and even that won’t be enough. 1/5 $TSM $AAPL $NVDA $AVGO $AMD $MRVL $AMAT $ASML $LRCX $TOELY $KLAC #semiconductors #semiconductor money.udn.com/money/story/56… 2/5 TSMC’s Wei made the comments in a joint press conference with Taiwan President William Lai, and made use of the TV cameras by adding that there still isn’t enough land in Taiwan for fabs, to which President Lai immediately said the government will absolutely help provide more land, water and electricity.

Taiwan’s big reaction to TSMC’s US$165 billion investment in the US via the media: a potential real estate bust, losing TSMC technology and the Silicon Shield, more: Thread: 1/7 2/7 Taiwan’s real estate market may be first to feel the impact of TSMC’s big investment in the US, media report, as real estate prices in some local markets soared based on TSMC investment plans which now might not materialize. Examples: the price-per-ping (local measurement) in Hsinchu County’s BaoShan township rose 120%, while Chiayi County’s Puzi City rose 95%. $TSM #semiconductors news.cnyes.com/news/id/5881563

There’s an old saying, “a hammer is a great tool, but not for a window.”

Tariffs are similar: one of many tools, and very effective when used for the right job. In semiconductors, it’s almost always wrong.
Thread 1/25 $TSM $AAPL $NVDA $AVGO $AMZN $MSFT $GOOGL $META $AMAT $LRCX $KLAC #semiconductors #semiconductor 2/25 The aim of promised 100% tariffs on Taiwan semiconductors is to entice Taiwan semiconductor makers to build more fabs in the US, despite TSMC having already opened one fab as part of a US$65 billion investment that will ultimately make the US host to 3 advanced TSMC fabs, the only ones outside of Taiwan.

Repeat: TSMC topped all semiconductor manufacturers in annual 2024 revenue. Thread 1/11 2/11
World’s Top Semiconductor Manufacturers
Full Year 2024 Revenue in US$ dollars
TSMC: $90.08 billion, up 30% from 2023
Samsung (chip division): $84.50 billion, up 65.7%
Intel: $53.10 billion, down 2%
SK Hynix: $48.55 billion, up 93.5%
$TSM $INTC #Samsung #SKhynix #semiconductors

TSMC 4th Quarter Earnings
Revenue NT$868.46 billion (US$26.88 bln)
Gross Margin 59.0% vs guide 57.0% - 59.0%
Optng Margin 49.0% vs guide 46.5% - 48.5%
Net Profit NT$374.47 billion ($11.59 bln) vs NT$370.64 bln expected
EPS NT$14.45 ($2.24 per ADR unit)
Wafer shipments 3.418 million +15.6% yoy
Thread 1/ $TSM $NVDA $AAPL #semiconductors 2/ TSMC Full Year 2024 Earnings
Revenue +33.9% to NT$2.89 trillion (US$90.08 billion)
US$ amount was up 29.99%, vs guide "close to 30%"
Gross Margin 56.1%
Op Margin 45.7%
Net profit NT$1.17 trillion (US$36.49 bln)
EPS NT$45.25
Wafer shipments 12.91 million

With all due respect to former President Trump, Taiwan did not steal the US semiconductor industry.
-Taiwan created trillions $$$ in value for the US chip industry, helping transform it into the juggernaut it is today.
-Taiwan helped save the US chip industry from Japan.
-Taiwan continued manufacturing chips long after it became passé in the US.
Thread 1/17 #semiconductors #semiconductor $TSM $NVDA $AVGO $QCOM $MRVL $AMD 2/17 The top five US chip designers – which would not exist today without TSMC – are worth over US$4.8 trillion in stock market value:
$NVDA $AVGO $AMD $QCOM $MRVL

The Battle for AI Memory Chip Supremacy

In February, Samsung Electronics claimed in a press release it was first in the latest generation of high-end AI memory chips, called HBM (high bandwidth memory), specifically HBM3e 12H.

But reviewing the situation today, not only is Samsung not first, it’s last.

Thread: 1/18
$MU $SSNLF #Samsung #SKhynix #HBM #semiconductors #semiconductor 2/18 Samsung lags

Samsung appears to be around 6-months behind HBM market leader SK Hynix Inc., and at least 3-months behind Micron Technology, an unfamiliar position for the perennial memory chip leader.

Memory bandwidth is a key bottleneck in AI servers, and the answer is better HBM memory chips, which are technically difficult to make and therefore command higher prices. $MU $SSNLF #Samsung #SKhynix #HBM