# AI Semiconductors GPUs and accelerators, memory, chip power, interconnect and the chip software stack. Theme: AI (Technology). Page: https://thematiq.io/themes/ai/ai-semiconductors/ ## Key facts - **The market: $1.5 trillion** Total semiconductor market, wider than AI (WSTS (trade body, Spring 2026 forecast), 2026) - **Growth: +33%** AI chips (whole segment estimate) (growth, a year) (TechSci Research, 2025-2030) - **The build: 10** of the 18 parts in the AI Supercycle bill of materials, each traced to the companies that supply it (ThematIQ research) - **The companies: 35** companies worth $12.1 trillion, earning on average 65% of their revenue here (Annual reports and exchange data, 2026-10-28) ## What it holds Listed companies that earn their revenue supplying these parts of the AI Supercycle bill of materials, each read from its own reports. | Part | Covers | |---|---| | Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) | GPU accelerators, AI ASICs custom, foundry leading edge, advanced packaging | | Video Memory (VRAM) | HBM memory, GDDR memory, DRAM | | Data Processing Unit (DPU) | DPU SmartNIC | | Cooling System | direct to chip cooling, thermal management components | | Voltage Regulator Module (VRM) | voltage regulator modules, power management ICs | | Motherboard Interface | server motherboards, PCIe CXL retimers switches | | Interconnection Interface | infiniband, ethernet switch silicon, optical transceivers, SerDes ip, interconnect ICs | | Network Interface and Controller | NIC controllers | | Output Interfaces | display interface ICs | | Software (AI hardware performance) | AI hardware software stack, EDA software | ## Largest companies | Company | Listing | Market value | |---|---|---| | Micron Technology | MU.XNAS | $1.1 trillion | | Coherent | COHR.XNYS | $47 billion | | Nvidia | NVDA.XNAS | $5.2 trillion | | Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing | 2330.TW | $1.9 trillion | | ASE Technology Holding | 3711.TW | $95 billion | | Fabrinet | FN.XNYS | $13 billion | | Lumentum Holdings | LITE.XNAS | $82 billion | | Marvell Technology | MRVL.XNAS | $221 billion | | SK Hynix | 000660.KO | $786 billion | | Realtek Semiconductor | 2379.TW | $13 billion | | Shandong Zhongji Electrical Equipment | 300308.SHE | $106 billion | | Eoptolink Technology | 300502.SHE | $38 billion | | Global Unichip | 3443.TW | $34 billion | | Alchip Technologies | 3661.TW | $10 billion | | Hygon Information Technology Co. Ltd. A | 688041.SHG | $67 billion | By listing country: United States 43%, Taiwan 31%, China 22%, South Korea 4%. ## The market - AI chips, mostly GPUs, ASICs and accelerators: $53bn (2024), Next Move Strategy Consulting - AI chips, mostly GPUs, ASICs and accelerators (growth, a year): +33% (2024-2030), Next Move Strategy Consulting - AI chips (whole segment estimate): $21bn (2024), TechSci Research - AI chips (whole segment estimate) (growth, a year): +33% (2025-2030), TechSci Research - AI chips (growth of USD 154.93 billion over the period) (a year): +24% (2025-2030), Technavio - AI chipset market: $4.0bn (2024), Market Research Future - HBM total addressable market: $35bn (2025), Micron (company earnings call, 17 December 2025) - HBM total addressable market: $100bn (2028), Micron (company earnings call, 17 December 2025) - HBM total addressable market (growth, a year): +40% (2025-2028), Micron (company earnings call, 17 December 2025) - High-bandwidth memory (HBM): $3.4bn (2025), Market Research Future - AI HBM market (growth, a year): +30% (to 2030), SK hynix (as reported by Reuters and others, August 2025) - Total semiconductor market, wider than AI: $1.5 trillion (2026), WSTS (trade body, Spring 2026 forecast) - Optical transceivers and related products: $24bn (2025), LightCounting - Optical transceivers and related products (growth, a year): +55% (2025), LightCounting - DPU and SmartNIC market: $1.1bn (2024), Polaris Market Research - DPU and SmartNIC market (growth, a year): +15% (2025-2034), Polaris Market Research - AI data-centre DPU and SmartNIC only: $1.9bn (2026), Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence - AI data-centre DPU and SmartNIC only (growth, a year): +28% (2026-2032), Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence - AI data-centre liquid cooling (direct-to-chip and immersion): $3.5bn (2026), MarketsandMarkets - AI data-centre liquid cooling (direct-to-chip and immersion) (growth, a year): +34% (2026-2032), MarketsandMarkets Whole-segment estimates range from USD 4 billion to USD 53 billion for 2024 because vendors define AI chips differently, while company and trade-body part-level figures such as Micron's HBM TAM are far larger or use different scopes, so the figures are not directly comparable. ### What is AI Semiconductors? GPUs and accelerators, memory, chip power, interconnect and the chip software stack. ### What does AI Semiconductors hold? Listed companies that earn their revenue from the parts it takes to build AI Supercycle: Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), Video Memory (VRAM), Data Processing Unit (DPU), Cooling System, Voltage Regulator Module (VRM), Motherboard Interface. 35 companies as of 2026-10-28. ### What is not in AI Semiconductors? Cold plates, vapor chambers, thermal interface materials and server level liquid loops: Cooling System, not Power and Cooling Systems; CDUs, rack manifolds, rear door exchangers, chillers and CRAH units: Power and Cooling Systems, not Cooling System Standard and RDMA NIC adapters and controllers: Network Interface and Controller, not Networking Equipment; programmable SmartNICs and DPUs with onboard compute cores: Data Processing Unit (DPU), not Network Interface and Controller Pluggable optical transceivers, AOCs, DACs and AECs: Interconnection Interface, not Networking Equipment or Racks and Cable Management; long haul and DCI optical transport systems: Networking Equipment; passive fiber trunks, patch panels and structured cabling: Racks and Cable Management ## What it is not - Cold plates, vapor chambers, thermal interface materials and server level liquid loops: Cooling System, not Power and Cooling Systems; CDUs, rack manifolds, rear door exchangers, chillers and CRAH units: Power and Cooling Systems, not Cooling System - Standard and RDMA NIC adapters and controllers: Network Interface and Controller, not Networking Equipment; programmable SmartNICs and DPUs with onboard compute cores: Data Processing Unit (DPU), not Network Interface and Controller - Pluggable optical transceivers, AOCs, DACs and AECs: Interconnection Interface, not Networking Equipment or Racks and Cable Management; long haul and DCI optical transport systems: Networking Equipment; passive fiber trunks, patch panels and structured cabling: Racks and Cable Management - Finished Ethernet and InfiniBand switch systems: Networking Equipment, not Interconnection Interface; merchant switch ASICs and InfiniBand silicon sold as chips: Interconnection Interface, not Networking Equipment - Board level VRMs, power stages and PMICs: Voltage Regulator Module (VRM), not Power and Cooling Systems - Server PSUs, rack power shelves and busbars: Power and Cooling Systems, not Servers and IT Equipment, Voltage Regulator Module (VRM) or Racks and Cable Management; power semiconductors inside them counted only within the PSU price - Server motherboards and GPU baseboards: Motherboard Interface, not Servers and IT Equipment - ODM rack scale assembly and test value: Servers and IT Equipment, not Racks and Cable Management or Motherboard Interface; rack enclosure hardware itself: Racks and Cable Management - High speed copper backplanes, scale up cable cartridges and high speed connectors: Interconnection Interface, not Racks and Cable Management - NVLink and other scale up switch chips: Interconnection Interface, not Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) - PCIe and CXL retimers and switches: Motherboard Interface, not Interconnection Interface; Ethernet and optical DSPs and standalone SerDes IP: Interconnection Interface - Custom accelerator design services and IP embedded in AI ASICs: Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), not Interconnection Interface; standalone SerDes IP licensing: Interconnection Interface - HBM stacks including TSV stacking and base die: Video Memory (VRAM), not Graphics Processing Unit (GPU); interposer and 2.5D integration: Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) - Server DRAM modules: Video Memory (VRAM), not Servers and IT Equipment - CPUs including those bundled in GPU superchip modules: Servers and IT Equipment, not Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) - General purpose server OS, virtualization and cluster orchestration: Datacenter Software, not Software (AI hardware performance); GPU drivers, CUDA, ROCm, AI compilers and inference runtimes: Software (AI hardware performance) - SSD controllers and RAID or NVMe Storage Devices controllers: Storage Devices, not Data Processing Unit (DPU) or Motherboard Interface Data as of 2026-10-28. Source: ThematIQ (industry research, company filings, exchange data), ETFIQ (fund counts), and the publishers linked above. Not investment advice.