The Bottleneck Watch
A field guide to the pieces of the puzzle that the world's biggest companies could not survive without, presented in a manner for everyone to learn and understand.
11 sectors64 chokepoints245 public names
Select a sector
Chokepoints
01The Earth — Raw Materials & Substrates02The Print Shops — Wafer Fabrication03The Chip Designers — Custom Silicon04The Memory Stack — HBM & Memory05The Bonders — Advanced Packaging Outliers06The Light Pipes — Photonics & CPO07The Wires & Switches — Networking & Connectors08The Power Grid — Power, Cooling & Construction09The Compute & Data — AI Cloud & Storage
Names inside
AXTIASMLTSMCAMTCOHRALABMTSISOIMPPPTALRCXKLACAMATLPKFFNVDAAVGOMRVLMUONTOSNDKTOWCFBESIY+50 more
Chokepoints
01The Joints — Precision Gearing & Reducers02The Muscles — Servo Motors & Actuators03The Nerves — Sensors & Perception04The Brain — Humanoid Platforms & AI Models05The Workhorse — Industrial & Warehouse Robotics06The Defense Robots — Drones, Loitering Munitions & Defense AI
Names inside
6324.TCGNXSYMAVAVPLTR6268.TYASKYTSLAISRGKTOSONDSFANUYABBNYKYCCFROKMRCYBAH688017.SSOUSTLAZRFIG.PVTRCAT+1 more
Chokepoints
01The Fuel — Uranium & Nuclear Fuel Cycle02The New Reactors — SMR & Advanced Nuclear03The Pipes — Natural Gas & LNG Midstream04The Crews & Wire — Grid Build-out (Non-AI-Specific)
Names inside
CCJLEUUECBWXTLNGMYRGMTZWMBKMIPRY.MIORANXEOKLOSMR
Chokepoints
01The Rare Earths — Magnets for Everything02The Lithium — Batteries for EVs, Grid, Robots03The Copper — Wires Everywhere04The Gases — Industrial Gases05The Wide Bandgap Chips — Silicon Carbide & Aluminum
Names inside
LINLYC.AXFCXALBSQMSCCOAPDNUECLFMP / USARALTMWOLFCENX
Chokepoints
01The Ride — Orbital Launch Vehicles02The Brain — Radiation-Hardened Electronics03The Wings — Satellite Structures, Solar & Deployables04The Push — In-Space Propulsion05The Doorway — Ground Stations & Antennas06The Pipes — Satellite Communications Services07The Eyes — Earth Observation & Geospatial Intelligence08The Highway — In-Space Services & Cislunar09The Shield — Defense Space & Golden Dome10The Phone — Space-Based Cellular / Direct-to-Device
Names inside
RKLBKTOSPLLUNRMRCYFLYBAESYRDWIRDMBKSYVOYGASTSMCHPLHXMOG.AVSATGILTLMT NOC LHX RTX BAHGSATSATLSPIR186A.T
Chokepoints
01The HBM Oligopoly — Three Companies Make the World's AI Memory02The HBM Stacking Robots — TC Bonders & Hybrid Bonders03The AI Chip Test Gatekeepers — Every Accelerator Must Pass Through These Machines04The Server Plumbing — Memory Controllers, Retimers & Interconnect05The NAND Cycle — Storage for the AI Data Explosion06The AI Storage Software — Pure Storage and the QLC Inference Wave
Names inside
000660.KSMU042700.KS6857.TTERALABSNDK005930.KSBESI.ASCAMTRMBSMRVL285A.TWDC8299.TWSIMOPSTGONTONTAPAEHR
Chokepoints
01The Coldest Place on Earth — Dilution Refrigerators02The Photonic Quantum Stack — Lasers, Modulators & Single-Photon Detectors03The Cryo-Control Electronics — RF, Microwave & Vacuum Systems04The Pure-Play Quantum Pioneers — Lottery Tickets, Not Chokepoints05The 2026 Quantum IPO Watch — Names to Track, Not Yet Investable
Names inside
OXIG.LCOHRLITE6965.TKEYSMKSIFORMAI.PAIPGPPrivateIONQQBTSRGTIQUBTIBMQNT (pending)INFQXNDU
Chokepoints
01The Desalination Monopoly — Energy Recovery's Ceramic Devices02The Ultrapure Water — 10 Million Gallons a Day Per Fab03The Regulated Monopolies — Water Utilities in a Datacenter Boom04The Treatment Equipment — Xylem, Veolia, Ecolab05The PFAS & Irrigation Add-Ons — Forever Chemicals + Agricultural Water
Names inside
ERII6370.TAWKWTRGAWRCWTXYLVEOEYECLCLHLNNPNRSJWWTS / MWAVMI / TTC
Chokepoints
01The CDUs & Cold Plates — Liquid Cooling at Rack Scale02The Chillers on the Roof — Datacenter HVAC Oligopoly03The Refrigerants & Dielectric Fluids — 3M Exits, Honeywell & Chemours Step In04The Air Handlers & Evaporative Cooling — The Bridge Solutions
Names inside
VRTTTSU.PA / SBGSYETNNVTMODCARRJCIHONCCMTRS.ST6367.TAAONMMM
Chokepoints
01The Peptide CDMOs — Making the GLP-1 Molecules02The Bioprocessing Single-Use — Filters, Resins & Bioreactors03The Glass & Stoppers — GLP-1 Pen Packaging04The Sequencing & Diagnostics — Illumina, IDEXX & the Lab-Instrument Oligopoly05The Distribution Oligopoly — McKesson, Cencora, Cardinal06The Obesity Drugs — GLP-1 Duopoly
Names inside
BANB.SWLLYPPGN.SWLONN.SWRGENSRT.DEDHRTMOSTVNWSTILMNIDXXWAT / BRKR / A / MTD / RVTYMCK / COR / CAHNVOCRLdelistedVKTX
Chokepoints
01The AI Power Delivery — PMICs, VRMs & DC-DC Converters02The Silicon Carbide (SiC) — High-Voltage Power Conversion for AI & EVs03The Gallium Nitride (GaN) — NVIDIA's Lead Partner for 800V AI HVDC04The Grid & Datacenter Power — Transformers, Switchgear & AI Fuel Cells
Names inside
MPWRVICRTXNADIONSTMIFX.DEETNHUBBNVTBEPOWIGNRC / CMIWOLFNVTS