Technology / Semiconductor / Internet Research

Nicolas Baratte

Nicolas Baratte has been a financial analyst since 2000, covering the Semiconductor sector and Global Technology. Nicolas has worked on the sell-side for JPMorgan, CLSA. On the buy-side for a Tiger fund and Prudential. Nicolas has covered semiconductors, Asian hardware and components, and the Global Tech supply chain. Nicolas lives mostly in Taiwan, sometimes in France and is in New York regularly.

Samsung 2Q25 Official Leaks: Sharp Decline in Operating Profits, but It’s the Bottom. Really?

Samsung Electronics: Share Buyback of 3.9 Trillion Won

Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) Outlook After 3.9 Trillion Won Buyback Plan Announcement

US Tightening the Screws on Sales of Semi Production Equipment to Foreign-Owned Fabs in China

SK Hynix, Micron HBM4 Qualification by Nvidia Is Done. Samsung Still Failing to Qualify with Nvidia

Samsung Still in the Woods, SK Hynix Still Ahead. China Semi News (Huawei)

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>Lisuan new GPU is a first step, but performance far behind AMD/Nvidia. Loongson new server CPU looks good, close to Intel chip of 2021. Major bottleneck remains SMIC 7nm capacity.</li>
<li>Qualcomm looks close to qualifying Samsung’s 2nm to manufacture Snapdragon 8 Elite 2. This would imply a major yield breakthru for Samsung.</li>
<li>Microsoft ARM CPU Maia is in production, but its AI accelerator Braga seems delayed significantly – either performance or an architecture rethink.</li>
</ul>


Lisuan new GPU is a first step, but performance far behind AMD/Nvidia. Loongson new server CPU looks good, close to Intel chip of 2021. Major bottleneck remains SMIC 7nm capacity.
Qualcomm looks close to qualifying Samsung’s 2nm to manufacture Snapdragon 8 Elite 2. This would imply a major yield breakthru for Samsung.
Microsoft ARM CPU Maia is in production, but its AI accelerator Braga seems delayed significantly – either performance or an architecture rethink.


Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) (981 HK)

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC)

Chips News: GPU, CPU in China. Qualcomm Going to Samsung Maybe, Microsoft Accelerator Delayed.