Behind the tiny lasers in your Face ID or the fiber‑optic links that power cloud AI sits an unglamorous but crucial company: AXT Inc., the Silicon Valley‑born wafer maker that turned a lab trick—vertical gradient freeze crystal growth—into decades of compound‑semiconductor supply for GaAs, InP and Ge substrates. This gripping history traces early technical advantage and a strategic offshoring push to China that saved the firm in the telecom bust but later exposed it to trade wars, export permits and customer concentration; today AXT is riding a resurgent indium‑phosphide wave from AI data‑center demand even as margins, permits and geopolitical risk keep the future uncertain.

Transcript - https://empor.top/us/AXTI

• I. Introduction & Episode Roadmap
• II. What Are Compound Semiconductors & Why They Matter
• III. Founding Story & Early Silicon Valley Days (1986-1999)
• IV. The Post-Bubble Crash & Strategic Pivot (2000-2004)
• V. The China Bet: Offshoring Manufacturing (2005-2010)
• VI. The Wireless Boom Era (2010-2016)
• VII. The Great Unraveling: Trade Wars & Customer Concentration (2017-2020)
• VIII. Restructuring & Search for New Markets (2020-2023)
• IX. Present Day & Future Crossroads (2023-2025)
• X. Strategic Frameworks Analysis
• XI. Bull vs. Bear Case & Investment Thesis
• XII. Lessons & Playbook
• XIII. Epilogue: What Happens Next