Independent Fund Manager, Swaen Capital

Swaen Capital

Independent Fund Manager

Swaen Capital is a Singapore based licensed independent fund manager with an open architecture, a non bias financial platform creating access to the best custodians and investment managers. Our focus lies within the wealth management business, covering client relationships, financial planning, advisory, as well as discretionary portfolio management. We have developed strategic alliances with other leading independent firms to complement and extend our offerings to clients (global hedge fund research capability, alternative investment offerings, corporate finance, fund structuring & administration, etc). Our know-how, extensive global network and long standing presence in Asia allows us to provide a global footprint and at the same time enables us to capitalize on regional opportunities.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>The copper wall is here. Above ~200Gbps per lane, copper can no longer carry signals more than a few metres without prohibitive power and signal-integrity penalties. The industry's answer is to move the optics off the faceplate and onto the chip package itself — Co Packaged Optics (CPO).</li>
<li>Adoption is switch-first. NVIDIA and Broadcom are shipping CPO switches in 2026 on external-laser designs; the XPU side and an in-package laser are deferred by packaging and reliability limits, not yet solved.</li>
<li>Money moves with the architecture. As the optical engine moves into the package, value migrates away from module assemblers toward the layers that fabricate the optical engine itself.</li>
</ul>


The copper wall is here. Above ~200Gbps per lane, copper can no longer carry signals more than a few metres without prohibitive power and signal-integrity penalties. The industry's answer is to move the optics off the faceplate and onto the chip package itself — Co Packaged Optics (CPO).
Adoption is switch-first. NVIDIA and Broadcom are shipping CPO switches in 2026 on external-laser designs; the XPU side and an in-package laser are deferred by packaging and reliability limits, not yet solved.
Money moves with the architecture. As the optical engine moves into the package, value migrates away from module assemblers toward the layers that fabricate the optical engine itself.


Co-Packaged Optics 101: The Future of High-Density AI Interconnects

Semiconductor & Technology Specialist, Ingenuity

William Keating

Semiconductor & Technology Specialist

Ingenuity

Our focus is exclusively on in-depth research & consulting in the broader semiconductor industry. We focus on the key players, namely Intel, Micron, Qualcomm, Apple, Samsung, NVIDIA, AMD, TSMC & Global Foundries - as well as some of the lesser known, but nonetheless critical, companies such as ASML (for EUV), Mellanox, Cavium, Xilinx etc. We specialise in their products, roadmaps, process technologies, competitive advantages & threats etc. We also help our clients understand the implications of new and emerging technologies, e.g. 3D X-Point, 3D NAND, Carbon Nanotubes, Autonomous Driving, Graphene, Silicon Photonics, Wafer-Level Optics, Artificial Intelligence, FPGA, GPU, ASIC etc. 

Semiconductor Analysis & Research

<ul>
<li>Taiwan companies are required to report revenue on a monthly basis. These updates can help us understand how a given quarter is progressing &amp; predict quarterly earnings ahead of time</li>
<li>Initially we focused on MoM %  increase/decrease. This is useful, but one needs to account for anomalies such as seasonality and potential non-linearity month to month within a given quarter </li>
<li>We now also provide the monthly YoY revenue comparison. This eliminates anomalies due to both seasonality and intra-quarter non-linearity, enabling a clearer perspective on where the industry is at. </li>
</ul>


Taiwan companies are required to report revenue on a monthly basis. These updates can help us understand how a given quarter is progressing &amp; predict quarterly earnings ahead of time
Initially we focused on MoM %  increase/decrease. This is useful, but one needs to account for anomalies such as seasonality and potential non-linearity month to month within a given quarter 
We now also provide the monthly YoY revenue comparison. This eliminates anomalies due to both seasonality and intra-quarter non-linearity, enabling a clearer perspective on where the industry is at. 


Semiconductor Real Time Indicators Update

<ul>
<li>Silicon wafers area shipments (in MSI) declined by 14.3% YoY in 2023</li>
<li>Wafer revenues also declined by 10.9% to $12.3 billion over the same period</li>
<li>We expect Q124 revenues to be down ~20% QoQ and anticipate a further 5% YoY decline in full year 2024 shipments</li>
</ul>


Silicon wafers area shipments (in MSI) declined by 14.3% YoY in 2023
Wafer revenues also declined by 10.9% to $12.3 billion over the same period
We expect Q124 revenues to be down ~20% QoQ and anticipate a further 5% YoY decline in full year 2024 shipments


Silicon Wafers Area Shipments Decline 14.3% YoY in 2023

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

David Blennerhassett

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Quiddity Advisors

Event-Driven

Sino American Silicon Products / Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>The implied stub for <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sino-american-silicon-products-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3441:1" rel="noopener">Sino American Silicon Products (5483 TT)</a> ("SAS") - and simple ratio (SAS/<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/globalwafers-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:17916:1" rel="noopener">GlobalWafers (6488 TT)</a> - are both at decade-lows.</li>
<li>Preceding my comments on SAS are the current setup/unwind tables for Asia-Pacific Holdcos.</li>
<li>These relationships trade with a minimum liquidity of US$1mn, and a % market capitalisation &gt;20%.</li>
</ul>


The implied stub for Sino American Silicon Products (5483 TT) ("SAS") - and simple ratio (SAS/GlobalWafers (6488 TT) - are both at decade-lows.
Preceding my comments on SAS are the current setup/unwind tables for Asia-Pacific Holdcos.
These relationships trade with a minimum liquidity of US$1mn, and a % market capitalisation &gt;20%.


StubWorld: Sino American Silicon (5483 TT)'s Decade-Low Implied Stub

Managing Director, Zero One, Zero One

Vincent Fernando, CFA

Managing Director, Zero One

Zero One

Founded in 2015, Zero One produces independent investment research and provides corporate finance advisory services with a focus on both listed and private technology companies. Founder Vincent Fernando has over 20 years of experience in US and Asia capital markets.

Independent Investment Research

Equity Bottom-Up

TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing) / Equity Bottom-Up

TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing) (TSM US)

TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing)

<ul>
<li>Last week at SEMICON, TSMC unveiled COUPE, moving silicon photonics from lab demos into industrial-scale advanced packaging.</li>
<li>Himax, ASE, Zhen Ding, GlobalWafers, ACON, and Accton form Taiwan’s listed ecosystem for silicon photonics adoption.</li>
<li>As NVIDIA Corp (NVDA US)-driven AI clusters proliferate, the power and cost of moving data between chips have become as constraining as compute itself.</li>
</ul>


Last week at SEMICON, TSMC unveiled COUPE, moving silicon photonics from lab demos into industrial-scale advanced packaging.
Himax, ASE, Zhen Ding, GlobalWafers, ACON, and Accton form Taiwan’s listed ecosystem for silicon photonics adoption.
As NVIDIA Corp (NVDA US)-driven AI clusters proliferate, the power and cost of moving data between chips have become as constraining as compute itself.


TSMC’s COUPE Signals Silicon Photonics Go-Time — Early Winners in Taiwan’s Listed Supply Chain

Taiwan

Globalwafers Co., Ltd. specializes in silicon wafer manufacturing and also provides solar wafers and crystal rods. The Company possesses a complete production line from ingot growth, slicing, etching, diffusion, polishing to epitaxy. Their products include Epi wafers, polished wafers, etched wafers, ultra thin wafers and deep diffusion wafers.

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Globalwafers (6488 TT)

Co-Packaged Optics 101: The Future of High-Density AI Interconnects

The copper wall is here. Above ~200Gbps per lane, copper can no longer carry signals more than a few metres without prohibitive power and...

Swaen Capital

Semiconductor Real Time Indicators Update

Tracking monthly revenues of Taiwan semiconductor companies helps us identify key trends mid-quarter. Initially we tracked the MoM revenue changes....

William Keating

Silicon Wafers Area Shipments Decline 14.3% YoY in 2023

Silicon wafers area shipments declined by 14.3% YoY in 2023 while revenues also declined by 10.9% to $12.3 billion. Q124 revenues will be down ~20%...

William Keating

StubWorld: Sino American Silicon (5483 TT)'s Decade-Low Implied Stub

SAS' implied stub and simple ratio are at extreme levels. These bifurcations are excessive. If you can set up the stub here cleanly, do so.

David Blennerhassett

TSMC’s COUPE Signals Silicon Photonics Go-Time — Early Winners in Taiwan’s Listed Supply Chain

TSMC's COUPE at SEMICON advances silicon photonics for industrial-scale packaging, with Taiwan's ecosystem poised for adoption in AI networking...

Vincent Fernando, CFA

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Co-Packaged Optics 101: The Future of High-Density AI Interconnects

The copper wall is here. Above ~200Gbps per lane, copper can no longer carry signals more than a few metres without prohibitive power and...

Swaen Capital

Semiconductor Real Time Indicators Update

Tracking monthly revenues of Taiwan semiconductor companies helps us identify key trends mid-quarter. Initially we tracked the MoM revenue changes....

William Keating

Silicon Wafers Area Shipments Decline 14.3% YoY in 2023

Silicon wafers area shipments declined by 14.3% YoY in 2023 while revenues also declined by 10.9% to $12.3 billion. Q124 revenues will be down ~20%...

William Keating

StubWorld: Sino American Silicon (5483 TT)'s Decade-Low Implied Stub

SAS' implied stub and simple ratio are at extreme levels. These bifurcations are excessive. If you can set up the stub here cleanly, do so.

David Blennerhassett

TSMC’s COUPE Signals Silicon Photonics Go-Time — Early Winners in Taiwan’s Listed Supply Chain

​TSMC's COUPE at SEMICON advances silicon photonics for industrial-scale packaging, with Taiwan's ecosystem poised for adoption in AI networking...

Vincent Fernando, CFA

TSMC's COUPE at SEMICON advances silicon photonics for industrial-scale packaging, with Taiwan's ecosystem poised for adoption in AI networking...