Right now "this industry" is not just one thing. WBT, has a chip...

Right now "this industry" is not just one thing. WBT, has a chip with a variety of potential applications - to name a few:

1. embedded memory: small memory modules that can be better integrated with CPUs for IoT devices, smart watches, wearables, etc. -> better speeds; lower power usage;
2. it could replace flash: MUCH faster reads and writes, higher storage density, greater durability than today's flash (we often compare WBT and 4DS, but 4DS is targeting an emerging technology, "storage class memory" and are not currently building their tech to be an alternative to flash;
3. Artificial intelligence: WBT has unique properties that can allow it to operate as a kind of hybrid memory / processor.

I originally invested in WBT because of number 2. When the started talking about application 3 I initially thought "gimmick". But as time has gone on I'm thinking that if WBT succeeds as a company, 10 years from today it is number 3 that is going to be where it really shines (and brings in revenue). I'm basing this on a significant amount of speculation about something that as yet we don't even know for sure about how intelligence works. But, as a psychologist keeping tabs on the latest findings in human cognition and intelligence, I have a very strong hunch that the evidence is pointing to intelligence (and consciousness) having evolved from what started simply as memory networks. WBT's chips have properties that I think might just play a part in a sudden explosion in the advancement of AI. Now, without a doubt, other researchers are looking at creating chips with similar properties. So it remains to be seen what technologies will prove successful and whether one will dominate. But having such a range of potential applications greatly reduces the risk for WBT, I believe. I think 4DS is much higher risk, by comparison - even though commercialisation may not be as far in the future for them.

Disclosure: I hold both 4DS and WBT, with twice as many WBT shares as 4DS currently.