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TLDR Hardware

TLDR HARDWARE 2026-10-16

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01GENERAL

ASML SAYS 2027 AND 2028 TOOL SUPPLY WON'T MEET DEMAND AS Q3 SHIPMENTS HIT 113 SYSTEMS

ASML sold 113 new lithography systems in Q3, up from 86, for record sales of €11.7 billion. It now expects planned 2027 and 2028 supply to fall short of demand, even after its planned 30% capacity boost on a 2026 base of about 65 low-NA EUV and 130 DUV immersion tools, and is investigating adding more for 2028. Some customers want to place orders for 2029 and 2030. Q4 sales are guided to €14.2 to €15.2 billion.

cnbc.com3 min read

GOOGLE'S WILLOW CHIP CUTS QUANTUM MAGIC-STATE ERRORS 40X WITH CULTIVATION

Google ran magic state cultivation on its Willow chip, cutting errors about 40x versus uncultivated states and reaching a record 99.99% logical fidelity for T-states. Magic states are a bottleneck because making them could consume up to 95% of a quantum computer's capacity. Cultivation injects a noisy state into a small chip region, then uses coordinated measurements to discard flawed attempts, and Google grafted a distance-3 color code onto a distance-5 surface code. Larger-scale demonstrations are still needed.

blog.google4 min read

INSIDE THE SECRETIVE AWS NETWORKING LAB

ServeTheHome toured AWS' in-house networking lab, covering switches from 3.2 Tbps to 102.4 Tbps (1.6T OSFP ports, not yet in volume), a 12.8 Tbps switch with 16 FPGAs encrypting every port, and a dedicated satellite-referenced timing network. It also saw 64-wavelength DWDM modules and hollow-core fiber with about 33% lower latency.

servethehome.com7 min read

ROCKET LAB DELAYS NEUTRON TO 2027 OVER VOIDS IN A CARBON-COMPOSITE TANK DOME

Rocket Lab moved Neutron's debut to 2027 after finding voids in the carbon-composite layers of the forward dome on its first-stage propellant tank. A replacement dome is being built, and Rocket Lab must still inspect it, assemble the first stage, and complete pressure and cryogenic tests before setting a firm date. It's the rocket's fourth slip since its 2021 unveiling, following a January tank rupture in testing, and shares fell about 10% after hours.

arstechnica.com3 min read

MONAZITE ORE COULD SUPPLY EV MOTOR MAGNET METALS, IF THE THORIUM WASTE CAN BE HANDLED

Monazite ore is 45 to 70 percent rare earths by weight and carries all four elements motor magnets need (neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium), making it a leading path around China's roughly 90 percent market share. The catch is thorium, whose waste must be stored indefinitely. Energy Fuels already produces neodymium-praseodymium oxide plus pilot dysprosium and terbium at its Utah mill, while Saskatchewan's government-backed plant has produced little after six years and over CA$100 million.

spectrum.ieee.org19 min read

AYAR LABS AND GUC SIMULATE A 3 KW CO-PACKAGED OPTICS PACKAGE, AND ONLY LIQUID COOLING HOLDS SPEC

Ayar Labs and GUC simulated a 105mm by 140mm package with two XPUs, eight HBM4 stacks, and eight TeraPHY optical engines, offering over 100 Tbps of optical bandwidth at more than 3 kW. A standard air heatsink at 5 to 6 m/s failed spec, while an impingement liquid cold plate at 4.5 L/min kept the optical engines under 100°C. Results use static power assumptions, so dynamic workload simulation is next.

semiengineering.com4 min read

02MISCELLANEOUS

SPACEX REPORTEDLY SPEED-LIMITS STARSHIELD TERMINALS ON UKRAINIAN DRONES, CANCELLING MISSIONS

Ukrainian officials say SpaceX capped speeds on military Starshield terminals mounted on drones, with no warning and no stated reason. The cap is nominally 160 km/h, but the 7th Rapid Reaction Corps reports 10- to 20-second connection drops at just 110 to 120 km/h, and a volunteer says drops now start at 60 to 70 km/h. Multiple missions were cancelled. Officials suspect it's intentional, and Ukrainian firm Stetman is developing an alternative satellite system, UASAT-NANO.

tomshardware.com3 min read

JURY FINDS ARM BREACHED QUALCOMM'S CHIP LICENSE BUT AWARDS JUST $2

A Delaware jury found Arm breached its architectural license with Qualcomm by failing to provide software patches and tools for its designs, and intentionally interfered with Qualcomm's Meta chip talks, but awarded just $2 in damages. Arm won five other breach claims, and Qualcomm's license runs through 2033, so its Oryon CPU work continues. Both sides claimed vindication, with Qualcomm shares up about 2.5% and Arm down about 2.2%.

links.tldrnewsletter.com3 min read