The Netherlands has a population of just 18 million. Nevertheless, in my search for technological bottlenecks, I come across companies from this small country. Not at the end of the value chain, but where it is decided whether new technologies can scale at all.
Three examples from my portfolio and my three bottleneck wikifolios:
- ASML
$ASML (-0,01 %) - For me, ASML is not just a bottleneck, but one of the rare chokepoints in the technology industry. A chokepoint describes a company that is so critical that there is practically no real alternative. Without ASML's EUV lithography, many of the most advanced chips simply could not be produced. What is particularly exciting is that the high-precision mirrors used in these machines are made by ZEISS SMT (not listed on the stock exchange). They are among the most complex optical systems in the world and are themselves an almost irreplaceable component of this choke point.
- BE Semiconductor
$BESI (+2,58 %) - Increasingly powerful chips must be efficiently interconnected. Advanced packaging is therefore increasingly becoming one of the key AI bottlenecks. BESI supplies the necessary bonding and connection technologies and is therefore at the heart of an area that is becoming increasingly important due to HBM, chiplets and AI accelerators.
- Nebius Group
$NBIS (-2,16 %) - The most powerful chips are of little use if the necessary infrastructure is missing. Nebius is building specialized AI cloud and compute capacities, addressing a level that many investors still underestimate: the provision of computing power as a service.
The exciting thing about this is that the three companies are at completely different points in the same value chain.
ASML enables production.
BESI enables integration.
NBIS enables utilization.
Perhaps this is the real strength of the Netherlands. The country does not necessarily produce the most visible consumer products. But surprisingly often the tools and infrastructures are created there without which the next wave of technology would not even get off the ground.
⚠️ No investment advice. All three companies are in my portfolio at the time of writing.
