PlayaBull

More footage coming in from Beirut. No words.

Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline hit by drone attack: FT

*NETANYAHU SAYS DEAL DOESN'T COVER HEZBOLLAH IN LEBANON: AP

Today's Nikkei 225 gain of 2,878.86 yen was the third-biggest gain on record in absolute terms

Michael Dell: "AI Memory Demand Surging 625x… Demand Will Persist" AI memory demand has surged explosively, but analysts suggest structural supply shortages will persist for the time being. Meanwhile, AI investment led by hyperscalers (large cloud and data center operators) is expected to continue. Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Technologies, spoke at a Bank of America (BoA) event on the 7th (local time), stating: "As both per-accelerator memory capacity and system scale expand simultaneously in AI infrastructure, total memory demand is forming a structure where it increases roughly 625x." He continued: "Expanding memory supply takes years, but current AI infrastructure demand is showing no signs of slowing. We are still in the early stages of technology adoption." Dell explained that per-accelerator memory capacity has grown from 80GB with NVIDIA's H100 in 2022 to 2TB by 2028, while the scale of accelerator deployment within data centers is also expanding roughly 25x — driving total memory demand up to 625x (25×25). However, he noted that investment pullbacks by memory companies amid the 2023 industry downturn have resulted in supply shortages. Despite this, he said robust server demand continues, driven by expanding AI demand and sovereign AI initiatives spurred by geopolitical tensions. Dell remarked: "It doesn't make sense for a knowledge worker earning $100,000 a year to use an outdated PC or an inefficient system. When you consider productivity, enterprises have no choice but to invest in infrastructure." He added: "Most of the top ~25 countries by GDP are pursuing some form of sovereign AI project." He emphasized: "There may be price increases or temporary delays, but enterprises and cloud operators will ultimately have no choice but to adopt infrastructure. The question is not 'whether to buy' but 'when to buy.'"

2026: CPU, Memory, Substrate and Optics.

First TurboQuant, now Nvidia going after high memory prices

Exclusive: Samsung Electro-Mechanics Supplies Glass Substrate Samples to Apple Samsung Electro-Mechanics has supplied semiconductor glass substrate samples to Apple. Following custom AI chip designer Broadcom, the company is now supplying samples to end-customer Apple as well, drawing assessments that it is rapidly expanding the scope of its new business. According to reporting by The Elec as of April 7, Samsung Electro-Mechanics has been confirmed to have been supplying glass substrate samples to Apple since last year. The samples are substrate products in which the organic-material core used in conventional flip-chip ball grid array (FC-BGA) has been replaced with glass. Glass offers higher surface flatness compared to organic materials, enabling finer circuit patterning. Its lower coefficient of thermal expansion also suppresses warpage caused by thermal expansion mismatches between the chip and substrate. As AI semiconductors continue to grow in die size due to performance competition, larger substrates exacerbate warpage issues — leading many companies to consider glass substrates a critical element for next-generation products. Broadcom is the largest potential customer for Samsung Electro-Mechanics' glass substrate business. Broadcom is the market leader in custom AI chips, co-developing AI server chips with Big Tech firms such as Google, Meta, and OpenAI, and converting those designs into foundry-manufacturable form. Samsung Electro-Mechanics has been supplying glass core substrate samples to Broadcom since last year. If it secures the Broadcom supply, its glass substrates would be mounted on Big Tech companies' custom AI chips. Apple also collaborates with Broadcom on AI server chips. The Information reported in December 2024 that Apple is developing its own AI server chip with Broadcom. Internally codenamed "Baltra," the chip is expected to be manufactured at TSMC fabs. Industry observers cite two main reasons why Apple is separately sourcing and evaluating glass substrate samples directly from Samsung Electro-Mechanics, apart from Broadcom. In the near term, Apple likely wants to directly assess the packaging material characteristics that will be applied to the Broadcom platform from the perspective of the end customer. In the longer term, some interpret this as Apple laying the groundwork to eventually handle AI server chip packaging in-house using glass substrates. Apple has a track record of bringing externally sourced components — mobile application processors (APs), GPU IP, modems — in-house through its own design efforts. Either way, winning Apple would be a major positive for Samsung Electro-Mechanics. Samsung Electro-Mechanics is currently operating a glass substrate pilot line at its Sejong facility in South Chungcheong Province, targeting mass production from 2027 onward. In November last year, it signed an MOU with Japan's Sumitomo Chemical Group to establish a joint venture for manufacturing glass cores, a key material for glass substrates. The JV is expected to be finalized in the second half of this year, with full-scale equipment investment to follow. An industry source said, "The customer base secured through the existing FC-BGA business can be directly carried over to the glass substrate business," adding, "Glass substrates are still an early-stage market without established standards — the key is not speed to mass production, but building trust by delivering the quality and specifications customers demand." $AAPL $AVGO