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Packaging Crunch, TSMC's Memory Pivot & the Nvidia Board Crisis
Audio is available on Spreaker — see link below.
AI hardware constraints have shifted downstream — chip packaging, HBM supply, and power delivery are now the binding limits on the AI buildout. Today's briefing covers TSMC's DRAM move, Micron's frozen Taiwan plant, AMD's equity lock-ins, and the Nvidia CEO investigation.
Audio is available on Spreaker — see link below.
Advanced chip packaging has quietly become the most contested real estate in AI hardware. The constraint isn't chip design anymore.
TSMC is making a move that changes its own business model. The foundry giant is exploring production of three-dimensional DRAM memory chips, reportedly at Nvidia's request, and is considering acquiring a plant to do it.
While TSMC eyes memory expansion, Micron's existing memory ambitions have stalled. The company has suspended construction on its four-point-five billion dollar Taoyuan plant in Taiwan following a protracted labor union dispute.
AMD reported record data-center revenue of eight-point-five billion dollars in its third quarter, up ninety-seven percent year over year. Those are strong numbers.
Nvidia's week has been considerably more difficult. The board is investigating CEO Jensen Huang over foreign intelligence allegations, with reports now including the possibility of his removal.
Two shorter developments worth noting. Intel's stock has recovered toward sixty-four dollars on sustained server processor demand, with one analyst projecting fifty billion dollars in CPU revenue by twenty thirty.
The through-line across all of this is straightforward. The hardware constraint has moved downstream.
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