Technology-driven semiconductor research.
Technical depth, translated for investment decisions.
Semiconductors are complex, but underneath lies incredible opportunity.
That is what this newsletter explores.
What you get
One deep dive every week.
Each one takes a single topic and builds it from first principles up to a verdict; if you need a primer on how the technology works before we get to who wins and loses, you’ll get it (fundamentals first, always).
Coverage spans AI infrastructure, optical interconnects, memory and storage, advanced packaging, networking, and power semiconductors.
Who reads it
Vik’s Newsletter is a top 20 Technology Substack.
The readers fall into two camps:
Analysts and portfolio managers at trading firms, hedge funds, and asset managers. They want to know whether a thesis holds.
Engineers, founders, and executives across the semiconductor supply chain. They want to understand where technology and innovation is headed.
Each deep-dive will equally serve both camps; deep in engineering and physics, while still being understandable and actionable.
Who I am
I’m Vikram Sekar. I spent 15 years in the semiconductor industry before writing about it full time: pSemi (2011 to 2016), IDT (2016 to 2018), and Qualcomm (2018 to 2026). Along the way I picked up a PhD (Texas A&M, Analog/RF), 5 patents, 20+ IEEE publications, and a best paper award at an international conference.
Semi Doped Podcast
I co-host Semi Doped, a weekly podcast on the semiconductor industry, with Austin Lyons of Chipstrat. The episodes build on what we each publish during the week; if you’d rather listen than read, start there.
Find us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast platform of your choice.
If you want daily news updates with expert takes on what the news actually means instead of just a headline, subscribe to our Semi Doped Daily newsletter. It’s completely free!
SemiExponent
SemiExponent is my consulting practice, and the difference between it and the newsletter is depth. The newsletter covers a topic in one post; SemiExponent takes that topic and investigates it much more deeply.
For an investment firm, the investigation is tuned to a market thesis. For a company, it is tuned to the best technical roadmap.
Engagements run as commissioned technical reports, expert calls, and advisory work. Here are some expert networks I already work with:
AlphaSights
GLG Insights
Dialectica
I am happy to work with your compliance team if you prefer to engage with me directly, outside of expert networks.
Contact me to find out more: vik (at) semiexponent (dot) com
Why subscribe
Semiconductors sit under every technology story that matters today. So why is the coverage so hard to use? Because most of it forces a tradeoff you should not have to accept: bury the reader in jargon, or skip the technology entirely.
It does not have to be this way. In this newsletter, each post takes one complex technology, explains it in plain language from first principles, and ties it to the most relevant technologies and markets of today. If you invest in the sector, you get the technical grounding behind the theses you evaluate. If you build in it, you get the same grounding for the fields around your own. Either way, you leave each post able to explain the topic yourself, not repeat a headline.
Expensing the Newsletter
If your firm has a research budget, this subscription qualifies. Consider expensing it. If you have any questions, email me at subscriptions@vsekar.com
Group/Company Subscriptions
When setting up a group subscription, an administrator can purchase X annual seats for the group. They can then add/remove/replace people in the organization who receive newsletter issues. There is a 20% discount for group subscriptions of 3 people or more. You can always add more seats even after purchasing a group subscription. Each subscription is for an individual, not a company.
Holiday Policy
If I am not able to write articles on this Substack (health, extended holiday, other commitments, etc.), I will pause paid subscriptions until I can get back to it. When this happens, billing cycles are frozen.
For example, if I take a hiatus for a month, then your paid subscription will expire one month later than it would without the pause. So you will still get 12 months for a yearly membership. New paid subscribers will not be able to join during the hiatus. Existing paid members will still have access to the full archive.
