For all Sony shareholders who have one more share in their portfolio today.

Here is all the information on the spin-off: https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/IR/library/SFG_pso/

$6758 (+2,33%)
$8729 (-5,62%)

After my first post on humanoid robots received a lot of positive feedback, I went into more detail. I have subsequently added my favorites in each sector.

Extended analysis of the value chain including shovel manufacturers and potential hidden champions

New categorySecondary key sectors (sales, marketing, financing)

In additionTop 25 companies worldwide, as well as Top 10 Europe and Top 10 Asia

I have also added a video link for beginners. This will give you an idea of how far the development of humanoid robotics has already progressed.

https://www.stern.de/panorama/wissen/humanoider-roboter---wie-reagiert-er-auf-beleidigungen--35996156.html

Thank you for your attention and your support 🙏

🌐 1. value chain of humanoid robots (with hidden champions)

1. research & chip design

$ARM (+1%) ARM (UK) - CPU-IP, energy-efficient processors

$SNPS (-0,11%) Synopsys (US) - EDA software, chip design

$CDNS (+1,44%) Cadence (US) - EDA & Simulation

$PTC PTC (US) - Engineering Software, CAD/PLM

$DSY (-0,87%) Dassault Systèmes (FR) - 3D Design & Digital Twin

$SIE (+0%) Siemens (DE) - Industrial Software & Lifecycle Mgmt

$ADBE (-0,81%) Adobe (US) - Design, AR/UX

ANSYS (US) - multiphysical simulation - acquisition by Synopsis

Altair (US) - CAE, simulation, digital twin - acquisition by Siemens

$HXGBY (+0,48%)
Hexagon (SE) - Metrology & Simulation

$AWE (+0%) Alphawave IP Group (UK) - High-speed chip IP for AI/robotics

1.Synopsis, 2.Siemens and 3.Adobe are my top 3 in this sector

2. manufacturing technology & equipment

$ASML (+0,68%) ASML (NL) - Lithography (EUV)

$AMAT (+2,15%) Applied Materials (US) - Semiconductor equipment

$8035 (+2,91%) Tokyo Electron (JP) - wafer fabrication

$KEYS (+0,45%) Keysight Technologies (US) - Metrology

$6857 (+4,56%) Advantest (JP) - Chip test systems

$TER (+1,9%) Teradyne (US) - test systems + cobots

$6954 (+4,07%) Fanuc (JP) - Industrial robots, CNC

$CAT (+2,51%) Caterpillar (US) - autonomous machines

$KU2G KUKA (DE) - industrial robots

Comau (IT) - automation - not listed on the stock exchange

$ROK Rockwell Automation (US) - industrial automation

$JBL (-4,08%) Jabil (US) - contract manufacturing (EMS/ODM)

$KIT (-0,93%) Kitron (NO) - European EMS/ODM manufacturer

$AIXA (-0,05%) Aixtron (DE) - deposition equipment for compound semiconductors

$LRCX (+2,35%)
Lam Research (US) - Etch/deposition systems

$MKSI (+1,31%)
MKS Instruments (US) - Plasma/vacuum technology

$ASM (-0,33%)
ASM International (NL) - Deposition systems

1.ASML, 2.Keysight Technologies, 3.Fanuc are my top 3 in this sector

3. chip manufacturing (foundries)

$TSM (+1,73%) TSMC (TW) - leading foundry

$005930 Samsung Electronics (KR) - foundry + memory

$GFS (+2,46%) GlobalFoundries (US) - specialty chips

$INTC (+0,74%)
Intel Foundry Services (US) - new western foundry player

$981
SMIC (CN) - largest Chinese foundry

$UMC
UMC (TW) - Power/RF/Embedded chips

1.TSMC, 2.Intel, 3.Samsung Electronics are my top 3 in this sector

4. computing & control unit ("brain")

$NVDA (-0,63%) Nvidia (US) - GPUs, AI chips

$INTC (+0,74%) Intel (US) - CPUs, FPGAs

$AMD (-1,53%) AMD (US) - CPUs, GPUs

$MRVL (+0,41%) Marvell (US) - network chips

$MU (+3,03%) Micron (US) - Memory

$DELL (-1,81%) Dell Technologies (US) - Edge & Infrastructure

Graphcore (UK) - AI chips (IPU) - not a listed company

Cerebras (US) - Wafer-scale engine - not a listed company

SiPearl (FR) - European HPC chip - not a listed company

1.Nvidia, 2.Marvell, 3.Micron are my top 3 in this sector

5. sensors ("senses")

$6758 (+2,33%) Sony (JP) - image sensors

$6861 (+1,3%) Keyence (JP) - Industrial sensors

$STM (+0%) STMicroelectronics (FR/IT) - Sensors, MCUs

$TDY Teledyne (US) - optical/infrared sensors

$CGNX (+2,62%) Cognex (US) - Machine Vision

$HON (-0,5%) Honeywell (US) - sensor technology, security

ANYbotics (CH) - autonomous sensor fusion - not a listed company

$AMBA (-0,8%) Ambarella (US) - video & computer vision SoCs for real-time image recognition

$OUST
Velodyne Lidar (US) - Lidar sensors - acquisition by Ouster

$AMS (+1,73%)
-OSRAM (AT/DE) - optical sensors

1.Teledyne, 2.Keyence, 3.Ouster are my top 3 in this sector

6. actuators & power electronics ("muscles")

$IFX (-0,68%) Infineon (DE) - Power Electronics

$ON (+2,41%) onsemi (US) - Power & Sensors

$TXN (+0,3%) Texas Instruments (US) - Mixed-Signal Chips

$ADI (+1,76%) Analog Devices (US) - Signal Processing

$PH Parker-Hannifin (US) - Hydraulics/Pneumatics

$MP (+4,47%) MP Materials (US) - Magnets

$APH (-0,4%) Amphenol (US) - Connectors

$6481 (+1,29%) THK (JP) - Linear guides & actuators

$6324 (+4,29%)
Harmonic Drive (JP) - Precision gears & servo drives for robotics

$6594 (+0,68%)
Nidec (JP) - Electric motors

$6506 (+11,36%)
Yaskawa (JP) - Drives & Robotics

$SU (-0,08%)
Schneider Electric (FR) - Energy & control solutions

$ZIL2 (+0,12%)
ElringKlinger (DE) - Battery & fuel cell technology, lightweight construction

1.Parker-Hannifin, 2.MP Materials, 3.Infinion are my top 3 in this sector

7. communication & networking ("nerves")

$QCOM (+0,72%) Qualcomm (US) - mobile communications, edge AI

$ANET (+1,27%) Arista Networks (US) - Networks

$CSCO (-0,05%) Cisco (US) - Networks, Security

$EQIX (+0,89%) Equinix (US) - Data centers

NTT Docomo (JP) - 5G/6G carrier - not a listed company

$VZ Verizon (US) - Telecommunications

$SFTBY SoftBank (JP) - Carrier + Robotics

$ERIC B (-0,03%)
Ericsson (SE) - 5G/IoT infrastructure

$NOKIA (+0,79%)
Nokia (FI) - 5G/6G for industry

$HPE (+0,67%)
Juniper Networks (US) - Network technology - acquisition by HP

1.Arista Networks, 2.SoftBank, 3.Cisco are my top 3 in this sector

8. energy supply

$3750 (-0,59%) CATL (CN) - Batteries

$6752 (+6,83%) Panasonic (JP) - Batteries

$373220 LG Energy (KR) - Batteries

$ALB (+0,81%) Albemarle (US) - Lithium

$LYC (+7,46%) Lynas (AU) - Rare earths

$UMICY (-0,54%) Umicore (BE) - Recycling

WiTricity (US) - inductive charging - not a listed company

$ABBN (+0,53%) Charging (CH) - charging infrastructure

$SLDP
Solid Power (US) - Solid-state batteries

Northvolt (SE) - European batteries - not a listed company

$PLUG
Plug Power (US) - fuel cells

$KULR (+18,18%)
KULR Technology (US) - Thermal management & battery safety for mobile systems

1.Albemarle, 2.CATL, 3.Panasonic are my top 3 in this sector

9. cloud & infrastructure

$AMZN (-0,22%) Amazon AWS (US) - Cloud, AI

$MSFT (+0,53%) Microsoft Azure (US) - Cloud, AI

$GOOG (-0,14%) Alphabet Google Cloud (US) - Cloud, ML

$VRT
Vertiv Holdings (US) - Data center infrastructure (UPS, cooling, edge)

$ORCL (-0,33%)
Oracle Cloud (US) - ERP + Cloud

$IBM (+1,41%)
IBM Cloud (US) - Hybrid cloud + AI

$OVH (+0,86%)
OVHcloud (FR) - European cloud

1.Alphabet, 2.Microsoft, 3.Oracle are my top 3 in this sector

10. software & data platforms

$PLTR (-5,08%) Palantir (US) - Data integration

$DDOG (+2,09%) Datadog (US) - Monitoring

$SNOW (-0,73%) Snowflake (US) - Data Cloud

$ORCL (-0,33%) Oracle (US) - Databases, ERP

$SAP (-0,71%) SAP (DE) - ERP systems

$SPGI S&P Global (US) - financial/market data

ROS2 Foundation - robotics middleware - not listed on the stock exchange

$NVDA (-0,63%) NVIDIA Isaac (US) - robotics development - part of Nvidia

$INOD (-0,13%) Innodata (US) - data annotation & AI training data

$PATH (+2,52%)
UiPath (RO/US) - Robotic process automation

$AI (+2,87%)
C3.ai (US) - AI platform

$ESTC (-0,77%)
(NL/US) - Search & data analysis

1.S&P Global, 2.Palantir, 3.Datadog are my top 3 in this sector

11. end applications / robots

$ABBN (+0,53%) ABB (CH/SE) - Industrial Robots

$6954 (+4,07%) Fanuc (JP) - Industrial robots

$TSLA (-3,23%) Tesla Optimus (US) - humanoid robot

$9618 (+0,01%) JD.com (CN) - logistics robot

$AAPL (+0,28%) Apple (US) - Platform & UX

$700 (+0,26%) Tencent (CN) - Platform & AI

$9988 (+0,45%) Alibaba (CN) - logistics & platform

PAL Robotics (ES) - humanoid robots - not a listed company

Neura Robotics (DE) - cognitive humanoid robots - not a listed company

$TER (+1,9%) Universal Robots (DK) - cobots - belongs to the Teradyne Corporation

Engineered Arts (UK) - humanoid robots - not a listed company

$ISRG (+2,48%) Intuitive Surgical (US) - surgical robotics

$GMED (+2,32%)
Globus Medical (US) - surgical robotics (ExcelsiusGPS platform)

$7012 (-2,24%) Kawasaki Heavy Industries (JP) - industrial robots, automation

$CPNG (-0,3%) Coupang (KR) - Logistics end user

$IRBT (+11,67%)
iRobot (US) - consumer robotics (e.g. Roomba), non-humanoid, but navigation/sensor fusion

Boston Dynamics (US) - humanoid & mobile robots-no listed company

Hanson Robotics (HK) - humanoid robots (Sophia) - not a listed company

Agility Robotics (US) - humanoid robot "Digit" - not a listed company

1.Apple, 2.Tencent, 3.Alibaba are my top 3 in this sector

🛠 2. cross enablers (shovel manufacturers) - with hidden champions

Raw materials & battery materials

Albemarle - Lynas - Umicore

$SQM
SQM (CL) - Lithium

$ILU (+7,29%)
Iluka Resources (AU) - Rare earths

$ARR (+0%)
American Rare Earths (US/AU) - New supply chains

my number 1 in the sector is Albemarle

manufacturing technology

ASML - Applied Materials - Tokyo Electron

$LRCX (+2,35%)
Lam Research (US) - Plasma/etching processes

$ASM (-0,33%)
ASM International (NL) - ALD equipment

$MKSI (+1,31%)
MKS Instruments (US) - Plasma/vacuum technology

my number 1 in the sector is ASML

Quality assurance

Keysight - Advantest - Teradyne

$EMR (+1,66%)
National Instruments (US) - Measurement technology - from Emerson Electric adopted

$300567
ATE Test Systems (CN) - test systems

$FORM (+1,49%)
FormFactor (US) - Wafer probing

my number 1 in the sector is Keysight

Motion & Drive

Parker-Hannifin

Festo (DE) - Pneumatics, Soft Robotics - not a listed company

Bosch Rexroth (DE) - Drives, Controls - not a listed company

$6481 (+1,29%)
THK (JP) - Linear guides

my number 1 in the sector is Parker-Hannifin

Sensors/Imaging

$TDY Teledyne

$BSL (-4,12%) Basler (DE) - Industrial cameras

FLIR (US) - Thermal imaging sensors - acquisition by Teledyne

ISRA Vision (DE) - Machine Vision - not a listed company

my number 1 in the sector is Teledyne

Magnets & Materials

MP Materials

$6501 (+5,75%)
Hitachi Metals (JP) - Magnetic materials

VacuumSchmelze (DE) - Magnetic materials - not a listed company

$4063 (+3,46%)
Shin-Etsu Chemical (JP) - Specialty materials

my number 1 in the sector is MP Materials

Chip Design & Simulation

Synopsys - Cadence - ARM

$SIE (+0%)
Siemens EDA (DE/US)-Mentor Graphics-strategic business unit of Siemens AG

Imagination Tech (UK) - GPU-IP - not a listed company

$CEVA (+0,83%)
CEVA (IL) - Signal Processor IP

my number 1 in the sector is Synopsys

Engineering & Lifecycle

PTC - Dassault - Siemens

Altair (US) - Simulation - no longer a listed company

$HXGBY (+0,48%)
Hexagon (SE) - Metrology

$SNPS (-0,11%)
ANSYS (US) - Simulation - takeover by Synopsys

my number 1 in the sector is Siemens

Networks & Data Centers

Arista - Cisco - Equinix

$HPE (+0,67%)
Juniper (US) - Networks - Acquisition of HPE

$DTE (-0,34%)
T-Systems (DE) - Industry cloud

$OVH (+0,86%)
OVHcloud (FR) - European cloud

my number 1 in the sector is Arista

Cloud infrastructure

AWS - Azure - Google Cloud

$ORCL (-0,33%)
Oracle Cloud (US) - ERP & databases

$IBM (+1,41%)
IBM Cloud (US) - Hybrid Cloud

$9988 (+0,45%)
Alibaba Cloud (CN) - Asian Cloud

$VRT
Vertiv Holdings (US) - Cloud/Infra

my number 1 in the sector is Alphabet (Google)

finance/information infra

S&P Global

$MCO (+0,7%)
Moody's (US) - Ratings

$MSCI (-0,3%)
MSCI (US) - Indices

$MORN
Morningstar (US) - Investment Research

my number 1 in the sector is S&P Global

Creative/Experience Infra

Adobe

$ADSK (-0,3%)
Autodesk (US) - CAD & Design

$U
Unity (US) - 3D/AR simulation

Epic Games (US) - Unreal Engine - not a listed company

my number 1 in the sector is Adobe

Platform & Ecosystem

Apple - Tencent - Alibaba

$META (-1,3%)
Meta (US) - AR/VR, Social Robotics

ByteDance (CN) - AI & platforms - not a listed company

$9888 (+2,09%)
Baidu (CN) - AI & Cloud

my number 1 in the sector is Tencent

Infrastructure/Edge

Dell

$HPE (+0,67%)
HPE (US) - Edge Computing

$SMCI
Supermicro (US) - AI servers

$6702 (+5,2%)
Fujitsu (JP) - Edge & HPC

my number 1 in the sector is Dell

storage solutions

Micron

$HY9H
SK Hynix (KR) - Memory

$285A (+12,5%)
Kioxia (JP) - NAND

$WDC
Western Digital (US) - Storage solutions

my number 1 in the sector is Micron

🏛 3. secondary key sectors with hidden champions

Financing & Capital

$GS (+1,36%) Goldman Sachs (US) - investment bank; ECM/DCM, M&A, growth financing

$MS Morgan Stanley (US) - investment bank; tech banking, capital markets

$BLK (-0,18%) BlackRock (US) - asset manager; capital allocation, ETFs/index funds

$9984 (+3,53%) SoftBank Vision Fund (JP) - mega VC; growth equity in robotics/AI

Sequoia Capital (US) - venture capital; early/growth in AI/robotics - this is a classic venture capital fund

DARPA (US) - government R&D funding (robotics/defense) - independent research and development agency

EU Horizon (EU) - research funding/grants for DeepTech - Innovative Europe pillar

China State Funds (CN) - state industry/technology fund

Lux Capital (US) - VC for DeepTech - Uptake (US) - AI-based predictive maintenance

DCVC (US) - Robotics & AI focus - investing exclusively via VC fund investments

Speedinvest (AT) - EU VC for robotics - access to investment only via fund investments

my number 1 in the sector is Softbank

Maintenance & Service

$SIE (+0%) Siemens (DE) - Industrial Service, Lifecycle & Retrofit

$ABBN (+0,53%) ABB (CH/SE) - Robotics Service, Spare Parts, Field Support

$GEHC (+1,08%) GE Healthcare (US) - Medtech service incl. robotic systems

Uptake (US) - AI-based predictive maintenance - not a listed company

Augury (US/IL) - condition monitoring, condition diagnostics - not a listed company

$KU2 KUKA Service (DE) - Robotics maintenance

$6954 (+4,07%) Fanuc Service (JP) - global service network

Boston Dynamics AI Institute (US) - Robotics longevity - funded by Hyundai Motor Group

my number 1 in the sector is Siemens

Marketing & Advertising

$WPP (+1,44%) WPP (UK) - global advertising group; branding/communications

$OMC Omnicom (US) - marketing/PR network

$PUB (+0,72%) Publicis (FR) - communications/advertising group

$META (-1,3%) Meta (US) - Digital Ads (Facebook/Instagram)

$GOOG (-0,14%) Google Ads (US) - search & display advertising

TikTok / ByteDance (CN) - social ads & distribution - not a listed company

$AAPL (+0,28%) Apple (US) - Branding/UX; Acceptance & Platform Marketing

$WPP (+1,44%)
AKQA (UK/US) - Tech branding - Since 2012 majority owned by the WPP Groupbut continues to operate as an autonomous operating unit

R/GA (US) - Innovation marketing - not a listed company

Serviceplan (DE) - largest independent EU agency - not a listed company

my number 1 in the sector is Meta

Law, Regulation & Ethics

ISO (CH) - international standards, robotics standards

TÜV (DE) - certification & safety tests

UL (US) - safety/conformity testing

EU AI Act (EU) - legal framework for AI & robotics

UNESCO AI Ethics (UN) - global ethics guidelines

Fraunhofer IPA (DE) - Robotics safety standards

ANSI (US) - standards

IEC (CH) - Electrical engineering standards

Training & Talent

MIT (US) - Robotics/AI Research & Education

ETH Zurich (CH) - autonomous systems & robotics

Stanford (US) - AI/Robotics labs & spin-offs

Tsinghua University (CN) - Robotics/AI in Asia

CMU (US) - Robotics Institute

EPFL (CH) - Robotics research

TU Munich (DE) - humanoid robot "Roboy"

🌍 Top 25 companies for humanoid robotics

These companies are central to the development & production of humanoid robotsbecause without them, crucial parts of the chain would be missing:

Chips & computing power (brain of the robots)

$NVDA (-0,63%) Nvidia (US) - AI GPUs & Isaac platform, foundation for robotic AI

$2330 TSMC (TW) - world's most important foundry, produces the AI chips

$ASML (+0,68%) ASML (NL) - EUV lithography, indispensable for chip production

$005930 Samsung Electronics (KR) - memory, logic, foundry

$HY9H SK Hynix (KR) - DRAM & NAND memory for AI

$MU (+3,03%) Micron (US) - Memory solutions for AI workloads

my number 1 in the sector is ASML

Sensors & perception (senses of robots)

$SONY Sony (JP) - image sensors, market leader

$6861 (+1,3%) Keyence (JP) - Industrial sensors & vision systems

$CGNX (+2,62%) Cognex (US) - Machine Vision, precise image processing

my number 1 in the sector is Keyence

Actuators & motion (muscles of robots)

$IFX (-0,68%) Infineon (DE) - power electronics, motor control

$6594 (+0,68%) Nidec (JP) - World market leader for electric motors

$PH Parker-Hannifin (US) - hydraulics/pneumatics, motion technology

$6481 (+1,29%) THK (JP) - Linear guides & actuators

my number 1 in the sector is Parker-Hannifin

Communication, cloud & infrastructure (nerves & data flow)

$QCOM (+0,72%) Qualcomm (US) - Mobile & Edge Chips

$AMZN (-0,22%) Amazon AWS (US) - Cloud & AI infrastructure

$MSFT (+0,53%) Microsoft Azure (US) - Cloud, AI services

$CSCO (-0,05%) Cisco (US) - Networks & Security

$VRT Vertiv Holdings (US) - Data Center Infrastructure

my number 1 in the sector is Microsoft

End Applications & Platforms (robots themselves)

$TSLA (-3,23%) Tesla (US) - humanoid robot Optimus

$ABBN (+0,53%) ABB (CH/SE) - Robotics & Automation

$6954 (+4,07%) Fanuc (JP) - industrial robots & CNC systems

$7012 (-2,24%) Kawasaki Heavy Industries (JP) - industrial robots

PAL Robotics (ES) - humanoid robots (TALOS, ARI, TIAGo) - not a listed company

Neura Robotics (DE) - cognitive humanoid robots - not a listed company

Universal Robots (DK) - cobots

my number 1 in the sector is Tesla

🇪🇺 Top 10 European key companies for humanoid robotics

$ASML (+0,68%)
ASML (NL)

World market leader in EUV lithography - no modern chips for AI & robotics without ASML.

$IFX (-0,68%) Infineon (DE)

Leading in power electronics & motor control - crucial for actuators of humanoid robots.

$STM (+0%)
STMicroelectronics (FR/IT)

Sensors, microcontrollers & power chips - the basis for control & perception.

$SAP (-0,71%)
SAP (DE)

ERP & data platforms, important for integrating humanoid robots into industrial processes.

$SIE (+0%)
Siemens (DE)

Industrial software, automation, digital twin - key for engineering & lifecycle management.

$KU2 KUKA (EN)

Robotics pioneer, industrial robots & automation - know-how for humanoid motion mechanics.

PAL Robotics (ES) - not a listed company

Specialist for humanoid robots (TALOS, ARI, TIAGo), internationally used in research & service.

Neura Robotics (DE) - Not a listed company

Young high-tech company, develops cognitive humanoid robots with advanced AI (4NE-1).

Universal Robots (DK) - Not a listed company

Market leader for cobots - platform for safe human-robot collaboration.

Engineered Arts (UK) - not a listed company

Develops humanoid robots such as Amecaknown for realistic facial expressions & gestures - important for HRI (Human-Robot Interaction)

🌏 Top 10 Asian key companies for humanoid robotics

$2330
TSMC (Taiwan)

World's largest semiconductor foundry, produces high-end chips (e.g. Nvidia, AMD, Apple) - no AI hardware without TSMC.

$005930
Samsung Electronics (South Korea)

Foundry, memory, logic chips, image sensors - extremely broadly positioned in robotics components.

$HY9H
SK Hynix (KR) - Memory

$SONY
Sony (Japan)

Market leader in CMOS image sensors, essential for robotic vision & perception.

$6861 (+1,3%)
Keyence (Japan)

Sensor technology & machine vision for industrial automation, widely used in robotics.

$6954 (+4,07%)
Fanuc (Japan)

Industrial robots & CNC systems, one of the most important manufacturers of robotics hardware worldwide.

$6506 (+11,36%)
Yaskawa Electric (Japan)

Drives, motion control & robot arms - relevant for humanoid motion control.

$6594 (+0,68%)
Nidec (Japan)

World market leader for electric motors (from mini motors to high-performance drives).

$7012 (-2,24%)
Kawasaki Heavy Industries (JP) - Industrial robots

$9618 (+0,01%)
JD.com (China)

Driver for robotics in e-commerce & logistics, invests in humanoid robotics applications

The hype is all about humanoid robots, but the constant winners are in the background.

I have divided the analysis into two perspectives. 1. the complete value chain of humanoid robots, which shows all the players from the chip to the finished robot, and 2. the blade manufacturers in the background, who always earn money as enablers, regardless of which manufacturer wins the race.

ASML, Applied Materials and Tokyo Electron dominate in manufacturing technology. Quality assurance comes from Keysight, Advantest and Teradyne. Chip design is supported by Synopsys, Cadence and ARM. Data streams are secured by Arista Networks, Cisco and Equinix. The computing basis is created in the cloud by Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet. Albemarle, Lynas and Umicore play a central role in raw materials and battery materials. These companies monetize their customers' investment waves, have high barriers to entry, service revenues and pricing power, but remain cyclical with risks from export rules, capex cuts and currency movements.

🌐 Value chain of humanoid robots Sector overview

1. research & chip design (IP / EDA)

$ARM (+1%)
ARM Holdings (ARM, UK/USA) - CPU architectures

$SNPS (-0,11%)
Synopsys (SNPS, USA) - Chip design software

$CDNS (+1,44%)
Cadence Design Systems (CDNS, USA) - EDA & Simulation

2. manufacturing technology & equipment

$ASML (+0,68%)
ASML (ASML, NL) - EUV lithography, key monopoly

$AMAT (+2,15%)
Applied Materials (AMAT, USA) - Process equipment

$8035 (+2,91%)
Tokyo Electron (8035.T, JP) - Wafer equipment

$KEYS (+0,45%)
Keysight Technologies (KEYS, USA) - Test & RF measurement technology

$6857 (+4,56%)
Advantest (6857.T, JP) - Semiconductor test systems

$TER (+1,9%)
Teradyne (TER, USA) - Test systems + robotics (Universal Robots)

3. chip production (Foundries)

$TSM (+1,73%)
TSMC (TSM, TW) - Largest contract manufacturer

$005930
Samsung Electronics (005930.KQ, KR) - Memory + Foundry

$GFS (+2,46%)
GlobalFoundries (GFS, USA) - Specialized production

4. computing & control unit ("brain")

$NVDA (-0,63%)
Nvidia (NVDA, USA) - GPUs, AI accelerators

$INTC (+0,74%)
Intel (INTC, USA) - CPUs, FPGAs

$AMD (-1,53%)
AMD (AMD, USA) - CPUs/GPUs

$MRVL (+0,41%)
Marvell Technology (MRVL, USA) - Network/data center chips

5. sensors ("senses")

$6758 (+2,33%)
Sony (6758.T, JP) - CMOS image sensors

$6861 (+1,3%)
Keyence (6861.T, JP) - Vision systems, sensors

$STM (+0%)
STMicroelectronics (STM, CH/FR) - MEMS sensors

6. actuators & power electronics ("muscles")

$IFX (-0,68%)
Infineon (IFX, DE) - Power semiconductors, SiC

$ON (+2,41%)
N Semiconductor (ON, USA) - SiC/Power Chips

$STM (+0%)
STMicroelectronics (STM, CH/FR) - Motor control & power

$TXN (+0,3%)
Texas Instruments (TXN, USA) - Motor control, power ICs

$ADI (+1,76%)
Analog Devices (ADI, USA) - Energy & BMS chips

7. communication & networking ("nerves")

$QCOM (+0,72%)
Qualcomm (QCOM, USA) - 5G/SoCs

$AVGO (+0%)
Broadcom (AVGO, USA) - Network & radio chips

$SWKS (+0,35%)
Skyworks Solutions (SWKS, USA) - RF components

8. energy supply

$300750
CATL (300750.SZ, CN) - Batteries

$6752 (+6,83%)
Panasonic (6752.T, JP) - Batteries for automotive/robotics

$373220
LG Energy Solution (373220.KQ, KR) - Batteries

9. cloud & infrastructure

$AMZN (-0,22%)
Amazon (AMZN, USA) - AWS

$MSFT (+0,53%)
Microsoft (MSFT, USA) - Azure

$GOOG (-0,14%)
Alphabet (GOOGL, USA) - Google Cloud

$EQIX (+0,89%)
Equinix (EQIX, USA) - Data center operator

$ANET (+1,27%)
Arista Networks (ANET, USA) - Network infrastructure

$CSCO (-0,05%)
Cisco Systems (CSCO, USA) - Edge & Data Center Networks

10. software & data platforms

$PLTR (-5,08%)
Palantir (PLTR, USA) - Data integration, decision software

$DDOG (+2,09%)
Datadog (DDOG, USA) - Cloud monitoring / observability

$SNOW (-0,73%)
Snowflake (SNOW, USA) - Cloud-native data platform

$ORCL (-0,33%)
Oracle (ORCL, USA) - Databases, ERP

$SAP (-0,71%)
SAP (SAP, DE) - ERP/cloud systems

$PATH (+2,52%)
UiPath (PATH, USA) - Automation software (RPA)

$AI (+2,87%)
C3.ai (AI, USA) - Enterprise AI platform

11. end applications / robots

$ABB
ABB (ABB, CH) - Industrial robots

$6954 (+4,07%)
Fanuc (6954.T, JP) - Industrial robots, CNC

$TSLA (-3,23%)
Tesla (TSLA, USA) - Optimus" humanoid robot

$9618 (+0,01%)
JD.com (JD, CN) - E-commerce & automated logistics

🛠️ Shovel manufacturer for humanoid robots

🔹 Hardtech (physical "shovels")

These companies provide the material basis: manufacturing machines, raw materials, semiconductor base.

Semiconductor Equipment & Manufacturing

$ASML (+0,68%)
ASML (ASML, NL) - EUV lithography (monopoly).

$AMAT (+2,15%)
Applied Materials (AMAT, USA) - Wafer equipment.

$8035 (+2,91%)
Tokyo Electron (8035.T, JP) - Process equipment.

Test systems (hardware-side)

$6857 (+4,56%)
Advantest (6857.T, JP) - Semiconductor test.

$TER (+1,9%)
Teradyne (TER, USA) - Test systems + industrial robots.

Materials & raw materials

$ALB (+0,81%)
Albemarle (ALB, USA) - Lithium (batteries).

$LYC (+7,46%)
Lynas Rare Earths (LYC.AX, AUS) - Rare earths for magnets.

$UMICY (-0,54%)
Umicore (UMI.BR, BE) - Cathode materials, recycling.

🔹 Soft/infra (digital "shovels")

These companies supply the infrastructure & toolswithout which development, training and operation would be impossible.

Design Software & IP

$SNPS (-0,11%)
Synopsys (SNPS, USA) - EDA software.

$CDNS (+1,44%)
Cadence Design Systems (CDNS, USA) - Chip design & simulation.

$ARM (+1%)
ARM Holdings (ARM, UK/USA) - CPU architectures (license model).

Test & Measurement (software/signal level)

$KEYS (+0,45%)
Keysight Technologies (KEYS, USA) - Electronics & RF test systems.

Network & data center backbone

$ANET (+1,27%)
Arista Networks (ANET, USA) - High-speed networks.

$CSCO (-0,05%)
Cisco Systems (CSCO, USA) - Data center/edge networks.

$EQIX (+0,89%)
Equinix (EQIX, USA) - Data centers (colocation).

Cloud infrastructure

$AMZN (-0,22%)
Amazon (AMZN, USA) - AWS (cloud, AI training).

$MSFT (+0,53%)
Microsoft (MSFT, USA) - Azure.

$GOOG (-0,14%)
Alphabet (GOOGL, USA) - Google Cloud.

Takeaway: Investing in the infrastructure stack allows you to participate in the robotics trend regardless of the subsequent product winner and reduces the individual product risk, but you have to live with cycles. In your opinion, which stage of the chain offers the best risk/return combination and fits into a disciplined portfolio?

Source: Own analysis based on publicly available company information and IR materials of the companies mentioned.

Image material: Techa Tungateja/iStockphoto

Alphabet / Waymo $GOOG (-0,14%)

Amazon $AMZN (-0,22%)

Baidu $9888 (+2,09%)

BMW $BMW (-0,96%)

CATL $3750 (-0,59%)

Dassault Systems $DSY (-0,87%)

Hexagon $HEXA B (+1,58%)

Mercedes-Benz $MBG (+0,67%)

Mobileye $MBLY

NVIDIA $NVDA (-0,63%)

Siemens $SIE (+0%)

SONY $6758 (+2,33%)

Qualcomm $QCOM (+0,72%)

Tesla $TSLA (-3,23%)

Link: https://shorturl.at/WJzuf

$TTWO (+0,96%) #GTA-VI will go off until 202x! :D $6758 (+2,33%)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdBZY2fkU-0

The new SONY ($6758) (+2,33%) CEO Totoki expressed his gratitude for his appointment and spoke about his commitment to realization of the creative entertainment to create new value and drive Sony's evolution and further growth.

The financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2024 were then presented, as well as an outlook for the full year:

Group sales excluding financial services increased by 7% year-on-year to JPY 3,695.7 billion. Operating profit increased by 10% to JPY 423 billion. Group sales including financial services rose by 18% to JPY 4,409.6 billion and operating profit increased by 1% to JPY 469.3 billion, a record high for the third quarter. The net profit increased by 3% to JPY 373.7 billion

For the full year 2024, the figures were as follows:

Group revenue excluding financial services was revised upwards slightly to JPY 11,900 billion. Operating profit was revised upwards by 2% to JPY 1,190 billion. Group sales including financial services were revised upwards by 4% to JPY 13,200 billion. The Operating profit was revised upwards by 2% to JPY 1,335 billion. The Net profit was revised upwards by 10% to JPY 1,080 billion.

Games and Network Services: There was a significant upswing here, with sales up 16% to JPY 1,682.3 billion, primarily due to higher hardware (especially PlayStation 5) and third-party software sales. Operating profit climbed an impressive 37% to JPY 118.1 billion, a record high for the third quarter in this segment. This increase was mainly driven by higher revenues from network services and third-party software as well as improved hardware profitability. Particularly pleasing was the 5% increase in monthly active users (MAUs) in December to 129 million, which is the highest number in PlayStation's history. A large proportion of PS5 purchasers in the quarter were new customers (over 40%) which, along with the moderate decline in the PS4 user base, contributed to MAU growth. PlayStation Plus revenue increased by 20% year-on-year, driven by higher average revenue per user thanks to the move to more expensive subscription models and price adjustments.

Music: Revenue increased 14% to JPY 481.7 billion, mainly due to higher streaming revenue and the consolidation of ePlus Inc. into Visual, Media and Platform. Operating profit increased by 28% to JPY 97.4 billion, mainly due to higher revenues. Streaming revenues also recorded growth of 9% compared to the previous year. Successes from artists such as Tyler, The Creator, Bad Bunny and Beyoncé were particularly noted. Sony Music is stepping up its efforts to promote local artists in emerging markets and strengthen relationships with independent labels, particularly in Latin America and India.

Pictures: Sales increased 9% to JPY 398.2 billion, primarily due to higher revenues from theatrical films such as "Venom: The Last Dance" and exchange rate effects. However, operating profit fell by 18% to JPY 34 billion, mainly due to higher marketing costs for theatrical films. Despite the strikes in the USA, the production of films and TV shows is recovering. The success of the anime series "Solo Leveling" on Crunchyroll was highlighted, and Sony plans to strengthen its commitment to anime fans by launching "Crunchyroll Manga".

Electronics, Technology & Services: Sales fell 4% to JPY 704.5 billion, mainly due to lower TV sales. Operating profit remained almost unchanged at JPY 77.1 billion. The mirrorless camera market experienced a stable recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic and almost reached the 2012 level in 2024. Sony is planning further cost reduction measures to increase resilience.

Imaging & Sensing Solutions: Sales remained almost unchanged at JPY 500.9 billion as lower sensor sales for mobile devices offset the positive impact of foreign exchange effects. Operating profit fell slightly by 2% to JPY 97.5 billion. Despite a decline in the current quarter due to past production problems, cumulative sales for the first nine months of the fiscal year increased by an impressive 15% year-on-year. Sony expects stable growth in the mobile sensor segment, mainly due to rising sales prices resulting from larger sensor areas and higher-end models. The slowdown in the growth of the electric vehicle market, particularly in the US and Europe, is having an impact on the automotive sensor segment. Despite this, Sony has been able to expand its customer base and improve its product performance, which has led to strong demand for EV manufacturing in China as well as a shift towards higher pixel count sensors.

Hayakawa also mentioned strategic initiatives such as the collaboration with Kadokawawhich has made Sony the largest shareholder in Kadokawa. The aim is to combine the strengths of both companies to create new value in various entertainment fields.

In the subsequent question and answer session various topics were discussed:

Totoki's role as CEO: Totoki expressed his vision for Sony in the next 10 years and how he wants to utilize the diversity of human resources and business fields to create something new. He wants to be guided by the vision and create something completely new by bringing together different areas.

Challenges and investments: The challenges Sony still faces to be globally competitive were discussed. Totoki explained that Sony has not yet reached the highest level in terms of size and profitability compared to top global players. The company's investment policy under the medium-term plan was also discussed.

Investment plans: The company highlighted the acquisition of EMI Music Publishing in 2018 as the most impressive investment. Totoki commented on the criteria for restructuring and divestments and emphasized that such decisions are made without hesitation if a business unit is not performing well and needs a change.

Duties: Strategies to minimize the impact of US tariffs were discussed, including diversification of supply chains and warehousing. Totoki assured that Sony is making preparations but has not yet made any drastic changes.

Medium-term outlook: Profit sustainability and expectations for the new management team and the capital market were discussed. In the gaming sector, the continuous increase in MAUs and the importance of network services play an important role.

Sony is and remains an exciting company. Unfortunately, nothing was reported on the development of its own e-car. I had hoped that Sony would have similar success to Xiaomi ($1810) (-0,61%) could celebrate. After all, PS5 sales are strong and a growth driver for the company as a whole.

I hope this summary has helped you.

Stay tuned!

Japan surprises once again: 2.8% growth in the last quarter! 🚀 While Europe - especially Germany - is talking about recession, the economy in Tokyo is booming. But why is the stock market reacting so cautiously?

Exports drive Japan, consumption weakens

Japan's growth engine is running at full speed - thanks to strong exports. Companies are investing heavily, but the population is holding back on consumption. Higher prices and stagnating wages are weighing on households. A familiar picture? Things look even gloomier in Germany: The country is struggling with shrinking economic output.

The yen as a risk

With the good figures, the yen is rising, which poses problems for Japan's export industry. More expensive goods abroad could dampen growth. Markets are also speculating on interest rate hikes by the Bank of Japan - another question mark for investors.

Investors beware!

Anyone investing in Japan should take a close look: Can domestic consumption recover? Or will growth remain dependent on exports alone? Shares such as Sony $6758 (+2,33%) , Toyota $7203 (+0,98%) or Panasonic $6752 (+6,83%) could benefit - but only if the economic climate stabilizes.

What do you think? Is Japan on the right track or just a flash in the pan? And what does this mean for Germany?

Sources: Manager Magazin, Statista,

Picture: ChatGPT

Today I would like to introduce you to a technology that is one of the greatest technological revolution since the invention of the Internet. The project is being led by the company Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) $9432 (+0,73%)a company that could be described as the Deutsche Telekom $DTE (-0,34%) of Japan. From the outside, it seems like a boring quality company, dividend share, safe haven.... But it is much more than that!

Our society is slowly but surely moving towards the AI age. Everything and everyone is connected. However, this also brings problems, because AI requires electricity, a great deal of electricity. It is currently assumed that in the future, an ever-increasing percentage of our electricity production will only be needed for data centers. This costs money and, in most cases, damages the environment on top of that.

This is the reason why NTT has launched the IOWN project (Innovative Optical and Wireless Network) into being. In the meantime, the project has developed into a global initiative with NTT as the initiator, important direct partners such as Intel
$INTC (+0,74%), Sony
$6758 (+2,33%), NEC $6701 (+0,87%) and Fujitsu $6702 (+5,2%)as well as dozens of other partner companies (Google $GOOGL (-0,25%)Amazon $AMZN (-0,22%) , SoftBank $9984 (+3,53%)....).

What is IOWN about?

Today's network technology, which is based on electricity, is to be fundamentally rethought. Instead of electricity, networks with photons (light) operated. This technology will be used in mobile networks, data centers, industry and much more. The APN (All Photonic Network) is currently undergoing intensive testing and expansion.

NTT: "IOWN technologies are expected to reduce energy consumption by 100-fold transmission capacity by a factor of 125 times and increase end-to-end latency (≈delay) by a factor of 200-fold times."

Here is another typical Japanese graphic, detailed but confusing:

The introduction of IOWN technologies would thus solve the biggest problem of our digital society, energy consumption. Not only that, it would also surpass all current network technologies in terms of speed and capacity and capacity many times over. Today's technology is not able to outperform the APN. IOWN represents a technological revolution with a disruptive character an innovation that would be so groundbreaking that anyone who does not adapt it would be at a competitive disadvantage. And IOWN is not science fiction, it is already a reality.

For example, the first international APN was put into operation at the end of last year. In cooperation with Chunghwa Telecom $CHT (Taiwan's largest telecommunications group), stable communication over a distance of 3000km with 0.017sec delay was made possible.

Telecommunications is just one of many applications. The link with AI and quantum computers is also being intensively developed. The government is also supporting the project with appropriate regulatory support and subsidies.

The latest news can be followed on NTT's Research & Development website: https://group.ntt/en/rd/

To the NTT share:

The NTT share currently stands at a P/E RATIO 11so it will by no means trading at a premium with regard to IOWN. The core business is very stable (telecoms), which is why the risk is virtually non-existent. Even though IOWN is now a global project, NTT is still at the forefront of the project and holds the most important patents. most important patents APN technology and will therefore also be its biggest profiteer. IOWN technology is very complex and therefore very difficult to copy. There is also no real competition for NTT in this area. However, we will have to be patient a little longer before IOWN is rolled out on a large scale. Until
2030 further commercial applications are to be developed and projects in Japan are to be driven forward. From 2030 IOWN technology will then be rolled out globally. The global adaptation of IOWN technology would also involve high initial costs for setting up the new infrastructure, although this would be offset by the negligible energy requirements in the application. In addition, companies and countries that do not rely on IOWN due to its technological superiority would suffer a competitive disadvantage.

Conclusion:

NTT could trigger a new technological revolution with the IOWN initiative they are leading. The technological superiority over today's systems is impressive. The next 5-10 years will show whether the future will run on photonic networks. Even though IOWN has the potential to be a true revolution, NTT would already call it a mini-revolution. as an initiator and technology supplier. As the share is massively undervalued in view of the potential massively undervalued I consider the purchase to be a no-brainer. All we need to do now is be patient and follow current developments!

Not investment advice, of course 🥴

Do you think Germany will reach 50% fiber optics by the time the world switches to APN? 🤪

$6758 (+2,33%) Sony is a diversified company in consumer electronics, music and movie business, image sensors, another financial services division, etc.

But today it's all about consumer electronics, the Gaming & Network Services division accounts for 32% of sales. It's also about the Playstation games console.

The Playstation 5 sales figures total 66 million units (as of December 2024). 116 million users are registered in the Playstation Network and around 47 million users use the paid subscription (13% of revenue).

Today, however, we are talking about Playstation Studios. Gaming studios that only belong to Sony.

This means that the games are almost always only released on Playstation.

In the gaming industry, the name Playstation Studios stands for quality, at least in the PS4 era, but Sony is currently struggling with massive problems.

Money is being burned here, but really burned.

For information: AAA games cost an average of 300 million US dollars. According to a leak, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 cost 315 million.

According to the BBC, GTA 6 could cost up to two billion US dollars to develop.

In addition to the money, a lot of time is also invested, of course.

Guerilla Games, a talented studio from Amsterdam, needed the following for the game Horizon Forbidden West 2022: 300 developers, 5 years and 212 million US dollars.

By mid-April 2023, around 8.4 million units had been sold worldwide, so Sony can be satisfied, it's solid for a single platform.

Sony has disclosed the development costs of two major games as part of the court case regarding the Activision-Blizzard and Microsoft takeover, they don't actually disclose such production cost information.

Jim Ryan (pictured) succeeded Kodera as President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment (Playstation) in April 2019.

In 2022, he declared that Sony wanted to launch 12 live-service titles by 2025.

What are live service games?

(Written by Ryktes on Reddit)

A live-service game is a game that has been developed with the sole purpose of keeping people playing for as long as possible, in the hope that those players will pay for microtransactions. The most common way that live services encourage engagement is by making the player feel like they're losing something if they don't return to the game regularly.

• Are there Take-Two Interactive $TTWO (+0,96%) shareholders?

In 2016, Rockstar achieved a turnover of half a billion US dollars with GTA Online.

• Electronic Arts $EA (-0,45%)

EA generates 73% of its estimated revenue (7.5 billion US dollars) from in-game purchases and subscriptions.

PS: Share price has just fallen by 9%, the company expects net revenue from live services to fall.

• Microsoft $MSFT (+0,53%)

The subsidiary King Games (Candy Crush Saga) has a turnover of 20 billion US dollars.

• Sony $6758 (+2,33%)

Bungie acquired for 3.6 billion US dollars, over 160 million US dollars in microtransaction revenue between 2017 and 2019.

Live service games can be a goldmine, but they don't have to be.

Sony, the second-largest gaming company after Tencent $TCEHY (-0,67%) was actually missing just that. Single-player games were their thing, with games like God of War, Ghost of Tsushima or Marvel's Spiderman, XBOX was finally left behind because Microsoft overslept an entire generation.

But single-player games only bring in money with purchases, after that it stops.

But now Jim wanted to get a slice of the pie and produce a real cash cow. A huge cash cow meadow was to be created out of nothing.

Let's see what happened to these plans. Jim has since resigned, leaving his successor with a billion-dollar grave.

Two games were released during this time.

• Helldivers 2 sold over 12 million copies on Playstation 5 and PC by 05.05.2024. A real hit.
• Concord 25,000 units sold after two weeks! 25k The studio was even acquired during production. According to the sources quoted by Sacred Symbols, the production of Concord cost as much as 400 million US dollars. The studio is defending itself against these sources, but insiders are now piling on and confirming this. Sony closed the studio after two weeks... Firewalk Studio worked on the game for a total of 8 years, Sony was involved from the very beginning.

As of 01/23/2025, Sony has canceled 7 of 12 live service games.

Sony's management has wasted half the generation pursuing live-service games, only to cut almost all of them.

Bluepoint Games as an example, a developer of the Demon Souls remake.

This studio specialized in single-player and did damn well with it, gamers and press were always satisfied.

Now this studio has been given the task of developing a game with live service game elements. Bluepoint Games has no idea how this works, but thinks Okay Okay Okay if that's what the boss wants, we'll do it.

Video games are not always video games. Single-player and L-S-G are as different as apples and oranges.

Imagine Elon Musk now wants to produce cars with fuel, 12 models at once. Something like that can work, but it doesn't have to.

I didn't think it was a bad idea to produce live service games on the side.

But there were just too many.

I don't know how much the loss is, but if I had to bet, 2.1 billion US dollars.

With a net profit of 6.7 billion US dollars (2024), Sony can handle that.

However, important games will now be missing, Sony is lucky that Microsoft is no longer interested in selling consoles.

In conclusion, I have to say that it was the right move to pull the plug early on. Otherwise Sony would be burning more money.

Sources:

Gamespot:

https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/sonys-live-service-game-status-report-canceled-released-shut-down/2900-6143/#1

ScreenRant:

https://screenrant.com/sony-cancels-live-service-games-god-of-war/

Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony

Play3:

https://www.play3.de/2024/11/08/ps5-absatzzahl-aktive-psn-nutzer-spieleverkaeufe-sony-veroeffentlicht-umfangreiche-statistiken/

Play3:

https://www.play3.de/2023/10/02/playstation-live-service-fokus-war-fuer-die-studios-eine-unangenehme-umstellung/

Jason Schreier, US American journalist

Bloomberg News, news agency