Astera Labs' phased-coexistence bet: copper and optical together, scale-up optics targeted 2028 via its photonics acquisition. Five rational postures on the card — NVIDIA's production packaging co-developed with TSMC, Broadcom's unnamed switch advocating copper, Marvell's acquired photonics platform, Cisco's "not imminent" concession — all share one structural fact: every contestant depends on TSMC for leading-edge logic, advanced packaging, or both. The arena owner gets paid every round.
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