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While NVidia is one of the first firms we name when describing the AI revolution., it could also have been King Slide Works. Manufacturing the tracks that let technicians glide servers out of their racks when they need a repair or maintenance, King Slide’s server rail kits are a necessity. Even more invisible, Guangdong Dtech Technology’s micro drill bits make tiny holes in circuit boards. Similarly, the Swiss vacuum valve maker VAT supplies data centers, as does LOTES, makers of the CPU sockets that carry power signals.
Our Bottom Line: The Power of the Market
According to Bloomberg, more than seven firms, located from Switzerland to China, “dominate quiet corners of the AI supply chain.” Founded during the 1980s, King Slide mostly made furniture knobs and hardware. Pivoting when large customers asked them to lower their prices, they added server rail kits and created a new identity. Now, they occupy an estimated 70 percent of the rail service kit market. Rather like King Slide, LOTES, is the company that produces CPU sockets. Around for 40 years, it is a machinery and mold-making firm that evolved to CPU sockets.
Asked about the success of each of these obscure companies, we could say, the power of the market. As a process rather than a place, the market is composed of many independent decision makers. On the supply side, they are propelled by profits. By contrast, with demand, it’s about lower prices. When the two combine, we get the industries that renew our economy. And yet no one told these tech entrepreneurs to create their businesses. Instead, they were nudged by the power of the market.
Correspondingly, ranging from King Slide Works’s founder, Lin Tsung-chi, to the VAT Group’s Rudolf Maag, the power of the market created a slew of new billionaires.
My sources and more: Thanks to Bloomberg radio for inspiring today’s post during a newscast. From there, we found our details in Bloomberg (gated but also summarized by AI) and WSJ. Then, needing a hardware explanation, I found this Substack. Also, I recommend taking a look at the King Slide Works website to see their tracks and LOTES for sockets.
King Slide’s website was the source of our featured image.
