Hardware Podcasts

EP 151: WFE Boom! Insight from the Clouds. Word of the year - constraints

The Circuit · 2 Feb 2026 · 1h 00m · Episode 153

What this episode covers

Hosts Ben Bajarin and Jay Goldberg analyze the semiconductor industry's current 'constraints' theme, focusing on the structural differences in the Wafer Fab Equipment (WFE) cycle driven by low tool reuse at advanced nodes. They discuss the 'compute wars' within hyperscalers like Microsoft and Meta, where internal software teams compete for scarce GPU capacity, and the volatility in storage markets, highlighted by Sandisk's earnings and Apple's tense negotiations with Samsung. The episode concludes with an examination of Texas Instruments' inventory buildup and the shifting dynamics in the analog chip market.

Most relevant to

large enterprises

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
ASML, KLA, Lam Research, Microsoft, Meta, Sandisk, Samsung, Apple, Texas Instruments, NVIDIA, Google, Amazon, TSMC, Intel, Seagate, Western Digital, ADI, NXP, OpenAI, CoreWeave, Nebius

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