"2nm optics" sounds exotic, but the 2nm is mostly in the DSP > The real message behind “2nm optical” is less about the photonics itself and more about $MRVL’s DSP/SerDes capability. > Moving coherent/PAM4 DSP into 2nm while still hitting 400G/lane-class performance and aggressive power-per-bit targets is the important part. > It highlights that $MRVL’s moat in AI optical connectivity is not just photonics, but also the DSP behind it.

$QCOM UNVEILS NEW 2NM SNAPDRAGON CHIPS WITH BIG ON-DEVICE AI PUSH Qualcomm launched the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and higher-end Extreme Gen 6, its first 2nm smartphone chips. The biggest focus is local AI. The chips include a sensing hub that can run models up to 200M parameters for things like speaker recognition, personal memory and always-on assistants. The Extreme version can run up to a 30B-parameter Mixture-of-Experts model locally on the phone. It also supports 8K/60fps and 4K/240fps video, while both chips add AI-based voice isolation and noise reduction. Motorola, Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, Honor, OnePlus and others are expected to use the new chips.

$MRVL TO SHOWCASE NEW 2NM OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY FOR AI DATA CENTERS Marvell says it will demonstrate several first-of-their-kind 2nm optical interconnect technologies at ECOC 2026 as AI networks move from 1.6T toward 3.2T connectivity. The demos include: • 2nm 400G-per-lane optical PAM4 • 2nm 800G ZR/ZR+ with integrated MACsec • 2nm 1.6T ZR and coherent-lite O-band • 102.4T co-packaged optics platform using 200G-per-lane silicon photonics The focus is higher bandwidth density and lower power per bit as hyperscalers connect increasingly large clusters of GPUs, CPUs, accelerators and memory. Marvell says its CPO platform integrates optics directly with AI accelerators and switch silicon as copper reaches practical distance and power limits in large AI fabrics.

MEDIATEK UNVEILS ITS FIRST 2NM SMARTPHONE CHIP MediaTek launched the Dimensity 9600 Pro, its first mobile processor built on TSMC's 2-nanometer process, alongside the 3-nanometer Dimensity 9600M for the broader flagship tier, per Reuters. The first phones using both chips launch soon. The 9600 Pro's neural processing unit handles more generative-AI work on the device and processes a user's prompt 51% faster than the previous generation, the company says. The push is aimed at Qualcomm $QCOM in premium handsets, where MediaTek's market value already passed Qualcomm's earlier this year. MediaTek's first AI accelerator for a major US cloud provider enters mass production in the fourth quarter. Last month it raised $3.9B in a convertible sale in which $NVDA put in $3.5B and $GOOGL participated. August revenue rose 44% y/y.

Samsung’s first 2nm fab in Taylor is reportedly fully booked by Tesla $TSLA, Arm $ARM and Broadcom $AVGO before operations have commenced, with trial production expected this month or next and mass production in 2027. $TSM $INTC

Everyone will quote 2nm. The number that matters for local AI is this one: 50% more memory bandwidth than A19 Pro. Decode is bandwidth-bound. You don't get 50% more tokens/sec from a faster core. You get it from moving weights faster. This is the biggest single-generation bandwidth jump I've seen in an iPhone.

TSMC Arizona’s 2nm fab may arrive as much as four-quarters earlier than expected, media report, amid speedy progress on the chip giant’s 3rd fab (P3) in Phoenix. The 2nd fab is also ahead of schedule, with equipment set to be installed in the 2nd half of 2026 (now), and mass production expected in the 2nd half of 2027. $TSM $NVDA $AAPL $AMD $GOOGL $AMZN #semiconductors# #Arizona#